LucasArts to release 10 of their classic games on Steam, including 4 SCUMM games

DamienD · 06 August 2009, 21:16

Hey guys,

Was reading one of the MAMEDevs; Aaron Giles's website today when I came across this news posted on the 9th of July, 2009:

__________________________________________________

Wow, what a pathetically long stretch of time not to post a single thing! Of course, once you have the "not posting" momentum, it's easy to keep on going. So what on earth would make me revive this blog-like news thingy? I mean, it would have to be something so exciting, so astounding, that I'd choose to break my silence and shout it to the world.
What could it be?

Well, as you all know by now, I did a few year stint at LucasArts Entertainment Company, initially working on the Macintosh ports of such illustrious titles as Dark Forces and Full Throttle. But my true love was the LEC adventure games, and so while I was there, I also dove in and ported Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max Hit the Road to the Mac — even though nobody had asked me to.

Flash forward a few years. I had left LucasArts behind for working at Connectix (who were eventually purchased by Microsoft). I happened to run into some of my former LEC colleages and told them, it would be great if we could port all the SCUMM games to modern Windows, just let me know and I'd be happy to make it happen. Nothing came of it initially, but we eventually managed to work something out, and I was given the go-ahead to put together modern Windows-compatible versions of both Full Throttle and Sam & Max.

But why stop there? Being a bit of a completist, you can imagine that I was compelled to get more than just those two games up and running. But LEC decided to focus on the two original games they requested, and they were eventually released in a limited fashion, which was in the end a pretty big disappointment for me, as I had envisioned something much more mainstream. And maybe even involving some of those other games I had ported — even though nobody had asked me to.

Of course, I fully understood the logic behind not releasing the remaining ports I did. After all, for LEC to release them would mean running all the games through QA again, solving bugs, and committing to fixing customers' problems. I periodically pinged my contacts, hinting that they should consider alternate, "unofficial" ways to release the games, but I never really got the sense that anything would ever happen with my ports.
Until a couple of days ago.

That's when LucasArts announced — to everyone's general astonishment — that they were going to release 10 of their classic games on Steam, including 4 SCUMM games (Loom, The Dig, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis). Of course, I was immediately curious to know if this meant they had revived my now years-old work to port the games, and it turns out that yes, some of my work is finally seeing the light of day! (After some additional improvements and bug fixes by the team at LEC, naturally. Thanks for cleaning up the details, guys!)

I honestly thought this day would never come. And now that it has, well, that's a great excuse to break the radio silence. I only hope that these re-releases are successful enough to warrant a second round. Because, while I can't reveal the titles of the other games I ported, I am somewhat of a completist....

__________________________________________________

Firthy2002 · 07 August 2009, 01:17

ScummVM already did it.

laffer · 07 August 2009, 01:32

I bought the Steam releases but I much prefer ScummVM.

skateblind · 07 August 2009, 02:16

No point but to cash in on old games, at least that Monkey Island Special Edition had work done to it, even if certain parts were crap.

T_hairy_bootson · 07 August 2009, 02:45

They should re-do X-Wing with modern graphics.

TCD · 07 August 2009, 08:19

Dark Forces! I want a up-to-date Dark Forces

Btw : What Firthy said.

gimbal · 07 August 2009, 11:15

up to date X-wing would certainly be awesome. The concept of the game is pure genius, throw in the X-Wing VS Tie Fighter multiplay mode and the game would be near perfect. I'd even see EAB multiplay evenings coming back

rsn8887 · 07 August 2009, 16:44

A new version of Tie Fighter would be neat. Concerning X-Wing, I think X-Wing Alliance is already pretty good, in terms of gfx and stuff.

PowerPie5000 · 08 August 2009, 02:18

I don't think they should release any more scumm remakes

I have just been playing Monkey Island Special on my 360 and it's just not right with the new graphics and speech... Lucasarts adventures are my favourite and i don't want them all to be ruined

mailman · 08 August 2009, 08:27

Can anyone explain to me what does the whole thing mean? Am I on the right track thinking that LucasArts is going to release those games for free download but only for Steam community members?

TCD · 08 August 2009, 08:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by mailman

Am I on the right track thinking that LucasArts is going to release those games for free download but only for Steam community members?

I take it that they will release them the way they did with the Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition (http://store.steampowered.com/app/32360/), but maybe for a smaller price. They wouldn't give their games away for free, now would they

lilalurl · 08 August 2009, 11:04

http://store.steampowered.com/search...oper=LucasArts
(the Steam hyperlink, in the text DamienD pasted).

Most of the games are at 3.99€.

mailman · 08 August 2009, 20:17

So basically, almost for free

06 August 2009, 21:16	#1
DamienD Banned Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: London / Sydney Age: 47 Posts: 20,420	LucasArts to release 10 of their classic games on Steam, including 4 SCUMM games Hey guys, Was reading one of the MAMEDevs; Aaron Giles's website today when I came across this news posted on the 9th of July, 2009: __________________________________________________ Wow, what a pathetically long stretch of time not to post a single thing! Of course, once you have the "not posting" momentum, it's easy to keep on going. So what on earth would make me revive this blog-like news thingy? I mean, it would have to be something so exciting, so astounding, that I'd choose to break my silence and shout it to the world. What could it be? Well, as you all know by now, I did a few year stint at LucasArts Entertainment Company, initially working on the Macintosh ports of such illustrious titles as Dark Forces and Full Throttle. But my true love was the LEC adventure games, and so while I was there, I also dove in and ported Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max Hit the Road to the Mac — even though nobody had asked me to. Flash forward a few years. I had left LucasArts behind for working at Connectix (who were eventually purchased by Microsoft). I happened to run into some of my former LEC colleages and told them, it would be great if we could port all the SCUMM games to modern Windows, just let me know and I'd be happy to make it happen. Nothing came of it initially, but we eventually managed to work something out, and I was given the go-ahead to put together modern Windows-compatible versions of both Full Throttle and Sam & Max. But why stop there? Being a bit of a completist, you can imagine that I was compelled to get more than just those two games up and running. But LEC decided to focus on the two original games they requested, and they were eventually released in a limited fashion, which was in the end a pretty big disappointment for me, as I had envisioned something much more mainstream. And maybe even involving some of those other games I had ported — even though nobody had asked me to. Of course, I fully understood the logic behind not releasing the remaining ports I did. After all, for LEC to release them would mean running all the games through QA again, solving bugs, and committing to fixing customers' problems. I periodically pinged my contacts, hinting that they should consider alternate, "unofficial" ways to release the games, but I never really got the sense that anything would ever happen with my ports. Until a couple of days ago. That's when LucasArts announced — to everyone's general astonishment — that they were going to release 10 of their classic games on Steam, including 4 SCUMM games (Loom, The Dig, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis). Of course, I was immediately curious to know if this meant they had revived my now years-old work to port the games, and it turns out that yes, some of my work is finally seeing the light of day! (After some additional improvements and bug fixes by the team at LEC, naturally. Thanks for cleaning up the details, guys!) I honestly thought this day would never come. And now that it has, well, that's a great excuse to break the radio silence. I only hope that these re-releases are successful enough to warrant a second round. Because, while I can't reveal the titles of the other games I ported, I am somewhat of a completist.... __________________________________________________

07 August 2009, 02:16	#4
skateblind Village Idiot Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: UK, England Age: 38 Posts: 580	No point but to cash in on old games, at least that Monkey Island Special Edition had work done to it, even if certain parts were crap. Last edited by skateblind; 07 August 2009 at 11:07.

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07 August 2009, 01:17	#2
Firthy2002 2nd era... Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Leeds, England Age: 40 Posts: 288	ScummVM already did it.

07 August 2009, 01:32	#3
laffer Zone Friend Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Norway Age: 43 Posts: 1,335	I bought the Steam releases but I much prefer ScummVM.

07 August 2009, 02:45	#5
T_hairy_bootson Workbitch 1.3 Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 46 Posts: 2,084	They should re-do X-Wing with modern graphics.

07 August 2009, 08:19	#6
TCD HOL/FTP busy bee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Germany Age: 46 Posts: 31,518	Dark Forces! I want a up-to-date Dark Forces Btw : What Firthy said.

07 August 2009, 11:15	#7
gimbal cheeky scoundrel Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Spijkenisse/Netherlands Age: 42 Posts: 6,905	up to date X-wing would certainly be awesome. The concept of the game is pure genius, throw in the X-Wing VS Tie Fighter multiplay mode and the game would be near perfect. I'd even see EAB multiplay evenings coming back

07 August 2009, 16:44	#8
rsn8887 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,058	A new version of Tie Fighter would be neat. Concerning X-Wing, I think X-Wing Alliance is already pretty good, in terms of gfx and stuff.

08 August 2009, 02:18	#9
PowerPie5000 Miggy Ate My Hamster! Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Lancashire, UK Posts: 1,566	I don't think they should release any more scumm remakes I have just been playing Monkey Island Special on my 360 and it's just not right with the new graphics and speech... Lucasarts adventures are my favourite and i don't want them all to be ruined

08 August 2009, 08:27	#10
mailman Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Warsaw/Poland Age: 45 Posts: 2,427	Can anyone explain to me what does the whole thing mean? Am I on the right track thinking that LucasArts is going to release those games for free download but only for Steam community members?

08 August 2009, 11:04	#12
lilalurl Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: France Posts: 3,289	http://store.steampowered.com/search...oper=LucasArts (the Steam hyperlink, in the text DamienD pasted). Most of the games are at 3.99€.

08 August 2009, 20:17	#13
mailman Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Warsaw/Poland Age: 45 Posts: 2,427	So basically, almost for free

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