After I posted about the Craig Derrick tweet earlier, it was brought to my attention that he's also commented on the often-scuttled efforts of the LucasArts Heritage team. Since those efforts remain largely mysterious to us - all I'm aware of is that Handsome Halibut title that never got announced and an internal Day of the Tentacle special edition - it merits the notice of the front page when new tidbits emerge.
Which brings me to this Twitter thread in which David Fox mentions this:
We were deep in talks with Darrell Rodriguez to create an iPhone version of Rescue on Fractalus with the original team. And then LucasArts was ordered to change direction and focus on Star Wars and he was replaced. Sad.
It brings a warm feeling to know that there were folks at LEC at the time who even considered such a tribute to the studio's very first game. And based on Craig Derrick's reply, it wasn't the only cool project to get the axe when Darrell Rodriguez stepped down:
Many amazing projects, partnerships, and plans left when he did. I’m glad the remasters found a home after 2013, but there was some cool stuff coming — including the original 1313.
This is intriguing stuff. Not intriguing enough for me to actually start reading Twitter (so do keep referring such findings to us as you spot them) but it certainly sheds some light on what a lot of us assumed about the Rodriguez years: that a slate of projects acknowledging the studio's legacy was attempted, before the powers that be did what they do best. Sort of the Simon Jeffery era in turbo? Maybe what Derrick is up to these days represents an attempt to get this type of agenda cooking again. We send only the best voodoo his way if so.
Source: Twitter
AlfredJ
I hope whatever artwork was finished for the official remake will end up online at some point, but I'm guessing there are probably some very serious lawyers who wouldn't be happy with that.
Although, reading your first comment again I guess you guys weren't at the stage of creating artwork then - I misread the "inspiring visuals"-bit.
Still, a very interesting and unexpected addition to the long list of lost Lucas projects! I hope there will be another revival period for the classics at some point in the future, like the period where we got the point & click-remakes. The Rescue-concept would still work for players today, I think.
DavidBFox
AlfredJ
I remember that fan remake, although I didn't realize they were still working on it! I'll check it out for sure.
It's come a long way. I think he's been working on it for 10 or 11 years. I actually talked to him a year ago and gave him some gameplay pointers, like when certain events start happening, how difficulty increases across the levels. He added all that into the game, so it's even more Rescue like.
Very cool, I've been looking at his work and I feel like this would work very well in VR. Sitting in a cockpit while flying a ship is something that just feels more natural compared to a lot of other VR movement solutions. This makes me extra sad that the official remake never got finished (the future is a big place of course, so who knows!), but that fan remake looks like a very fun alternative.
I hope whatever artwork was finished for the official remake will end up online at some point, but I'm guessing there are probably some very serious lawyers who wouldn't be happy with that.
AlfredJ
I remember that fan remake, although I didn't realize they were still working on it! I'll check it out for sure.
It's come a long way. I think he's been working on it for 10 or 11 years. I actually talked to him a year ago and gave him some gameplay pointers, like when certain events start happening, how difficulty increases across the levels. He added all that into the game, so it's even more Rescue like.
DavidBFox
We didn't get very far in the project. Loren Carpenter (fractal wizard) had a working fly-around fractal demo on the iPhone as a proof of concept. We had some inspiring visuals, ideas, but hadn't started production on it.
If you haven't seen it yet, there's a fan-created Fractalus game you can download and try out. It's pretty amazing. You can track Luke's work-in-progress. Also has it working as a VR demo!
https://www.lsdwa.com/projects/fractalus/
Really cool of you to comment here David! I would have loved to see what it would have turned into.
I remember that fan remake, although I didn't realize they were still working on it! I'll check it out for sure.
DavidBFox
If you haven't seen it yet, there's a fan-created Fractalus game you can download and try out. It's pretty amazing. You can track Luke's work-in-progress. Also has it working as a VR demo!
https://www.lsdwa.com/projects/fractalus/
And this article about Luke's project: https://skrolli.fi/2018/12/matemaattisen-taivaanrannan-maalarit-fractalus/
If you haven't seen it yet, there's a fan-created Fractalus game you can download and try out. It's pretty amazing. You can track Luke's work-in-progress. Also has it working as a VR demo!
https://www.lsdwa.com/projects/fractalus/
"Wow, that Mario Cart Home Circuit (a celebration of hardwood floors) looks awesome. Lucasfilm Games prototyped something like that before I worked there, driving rc cars around the skywalker ranch parking lot in the 80s. I can't believe it's actually a product now."
(This is a reference to a recently revealed Mario Kart game where you drive toy cars with camera's around in your living room, with the camera footage being streamed to your tv with AR-type video game stuff added in)