A petition to bring Star Wars: The Force Unleashed to the PC - Scifi-Meshes.com

Salvator · 03-22-2008, 02:13 PM

PC missing out on Star Wars: Force Unleashed Petition

Quote:

To: Lucas Arts

Dear Lucas Arts, Star Wars Fans have been awaiting for this game, The Force Unleashed for more then a year after the leaked Pre-Vis demo video. A couple of days ago Lucas Arts officially announced the Production of The Force Unleashed. On the official Lucas Arts website the official consoles that this game spports are: Next-Gen Platforms, Playstation 2, PSP, Nintendo DS. This is very upsetting to a lot of loyal PC fans of yours that have stuck by you ever since the production of Monkey Island and others. The Personal Computer cannot be ruled out because the technology and hardware of it is very powerful. I still find it hard to believe how the Playstation 2, the Playstation Portable and the Nintendo DS can run Digital Molecular Matter and Euphoria at all. Please reconsider what your actions will condescend too. The PC can support The Force Unleashed with no problem at all. If you do this Lucas Arts, you will please a lot of fans and gamers.

I create this Petition for other fans of yours like myself to show that we feel you are leaving us PC fans out in the dark.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

From the time I read this, there were already 19950 Signatures Total!

**Samurai** · 03-23-2008, 02:09 AM

Heh, amazing how a conclusion can be jumped to...

Fact is, the PC Hardware market changes much faster than the Console hardware market, especially now gamers and developers have DirectX 10 to consider.

I personally would say that the lack of an announcement for a PC version of the game is down to nothing more than LucasArts not wanting to commit too much too soon, before having a full and informed gauge on the marketplace, and a better idea of the technology likely to be publicly available at the time of launch. Bioware have done as much with Mass Effect, and it looks like the same is going to happen with GTA4.

I'd stick my neck out and say that Vista/DirectX 9/10 is (naturally) proving harder to develop for at this stage of it's life, as opposed to developing for an established platform like XP/DirectX 9. It has to be much harder for developers to get a game to a point where you can get the best out of it using two protocols- one brand new, as opposed to just one, established protocol.

So I'd say a petition is premature. It would be great to get a confirmation right now, but it's an unfair thing to ask of any developer with the market at the stage it currently is. Besides that, LucasArts has a strong history of supporting the PC as a gaming platform.

**TheGreatRaja** · 03-23-2008, 02:19 AM

I thought it was for the PC

**Comco** · 03-23-2008, 02:51 AM

It's not for the PC. And lucasarts have been copping an absolute beating over this fact for more than a year now. You think that if they really were looking seriously at it in the future that they would drop some sort of hint...I personally am completely bummed by the fact that it's not for PC as well. While it's possible that Lucasarts may be sitting on the news of a PC conversion until closer to the date, I do wonder about the intelligence of such a decision. The fan backlash they are currently receiving (they built their business on PC gaming and have many loyal fans in that market) has to be pretty damaging...

BTW - That petition is horribly written.

**Samurai** · 03-23-2008, 12:09 PM

There is another perfectly good reason:

"BREAKING NEWS: LucasArts listens to fans- PC Version of TFU Announced for Q1 2009! Fans Rejoice!"

Gives the company a second bite at the PR cherry, and also they can turn around and look all magnanimous when they do announce it.

I can't believe they'd ignore such a big core market intentionally, and focus purely on console work. That would be a bit like Ford saying it wasn't going to sell cars in America...

chrono · 03-23-2008, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai

I can't believe they'd ignore such a big core market intentionally, and focus purely on console work.

Cost and Time of development were the biggest factors in their decision. And I cannot blame them because of it either as it often cost more time and money to bring the game to the PC market, and making money is the one thing that is the only goal of the publisher.

I fully expect PC's to get even less games coming to them over the next few years and come to the point where only 1 or 3 huge publishers will release a PC game.

**Samurai** · 03-23-2008, 02:21 PM

I can understand where that argument would come from- with the PC market the way it is it has to cost more to develop for it.

Perhaps they're just waiting to see if the money made on the console side of things would offset PC development costs- who knows.....

**Comco** · 03-23-2008, 03:34 PM

I read an article with a leading Direct X developer just the other day that made the observation that approximately 80% of the cost of modern computer games is in creating the art assets etc. That tends to make sense too...It's all level designers, modellers, animators etc etc...A lot of games have only one or two AI programmers etc...

If 80% is even roughly close to the figure, then the argument that "it costs too much" to develop for the PC is simply rubbish. They already have the game built. We're talking a port here. I just don't see it being the equivalent of developing a whole new game...

biotech · 03-23-2008, 04:21 PM

If they dont do it, I reckon it will take about two weeks for some whizkid to hack the thing into a workable port anyway.

**Guerrilla** · 03-23-2008, 05:33 PM

The common thinking is that PC games aren't as profitable as Console games (which is why practically no one makes strategy games or simulations anymore; they don't port to the consoles), given that it's the easiest platform for software piracy and because wildly different hardware specs make for a very fragmented market. In a year or so, the 'average' off the shelf gaming machine should have enough kick to it to run the DMM and Euphoria bits no prolem, so I'm guessing we'll see it announced in about 6-12 months from the initial release, if the consoles make enough money.

Personally, I think the whole 'ooh, the PC market is big, bad and unprofitable' line of thinking is a bit silly. Publishers should try making games for the people who actually buy them, instead of worrying about everyone who wasn't going to buy the game in the first place.

Also, damn it, would a game that actually requires you to use a keyboard be too much to ask every now and then.

03-23-2008, 02:09 AM	#2 (permalink)
Samurai This time you see Join Date: May 2006 Location: (Northern) England Posts: 4,119 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Heh, amazing how a conclusion can be jumped to... Fact is, the PC Hardware market changes much faster than the Console hardware market, especially now gamers and developers have DirectX 10 to consider. I personally would say that the lack of an announcement for a PC version of the game is down to nothing more than LucasArts not wanting to commit too much too soon, before having a full and informed gauge on the marketplace, and a better idea of the technology likely to be publicly available at the time of launch. Bioware have done as much with Mass Effect, and it looks like the same is going to happen with GTA4. I'd stick my neck out and say that Vista/DirectX 9/10 is (naturally) proving harder to develop for at this stage of it's life, as opposed to developing for an established platform like XP/DirectX 9. It has to be much harder for developers to get a game to a point where you can get the best out of it using two protocols- one brand new, as opposed to just one, established protocol. So I'd say a petition is premature. It would be great to get a confirmation right now, but it's an unfair thing to ask of any developer with the market at the stage it currently is. Besides that, LucasArts has a strong history of supporting the PC as a gaming platform.
	Here comes the water, It comes to wash away the sins of you and I. This time you see- like holy water, it only burns you faster than you'll ever dry.

03-23-2008, 02:19 AM	#3 (permalink)
TheGreatRaja SFM Fanfilm Attack Dog Join Date: May 2006 Location: On your Computer.. Looking at your Porn! Age: 44 Posts: 1,353 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I thought it was for the PC
	'Could we have some Decorum here, or are you running a Pirate Ship' - Gaius Baltar 'Just a Battlestar, Sir.' - Starbuck 'Don't dare to be different, Dare to be Original'

03-23-2008, 12:09 PM	#5 (permalink)
Samurai This time you see Join Date: May 2006 Location: (Northern) England Posts: 4,119 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	There is another perfectly good reason: "BREAKING NEWS: LucasArts listens to fans- PC Version of TFU Announced for Q1 2009! Fans Rejoice!" Gives the company a second bite at the PR cherry, and also they can turn around and look all magnanimous when they do announce it. I can't believe they'd ignore such a big core market intentionally, and focus purely on console work. That would be a bit like Ford saying it wasn't going to sell cars in America...
	Here comes the water, It comes to wash away the sins of you and I. This time you see- like holy water, it only burns you faster than you'll ever dry.

03-23-2008, 02:21 PM	#7 (permalink)
Samurai This time you see Join Date: May 2006 Location: (Northern) England Posts: 4,119 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	I can understand where that argument would come from- with the PC market the way it is it has to cost more to develop for it. Perhaps they're just waiting to see if the money made on the console side of things would offset PC development costs- who knows.....
	Here comes the water, It comes to wash away the sins of you and I. This time you see- like holy water, it only burns you faster than you'll ever dry.

03-23-2008, 04:21 PM	#9 (permalink)
biotech SFM Oracle Realname: Rich Join Date: May 2006 Location: Hull, Yorkshire, England Age: 38 Posts: 3,545 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	If they dont do it, I reckon it will take about two weeks for some whizkid to hack the thing into a workable port anyway.
	Constellation class starship : Rick Sternbach concept runabout BSG Viper old school : BSG Colonial Movers now with updates!

03-23-2008, 02:51 AM	#4 (permalink)
Comco Administrator Realname: Tim Join Date: May 2006 Location: ACT, Australia Posts: 2,696 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	It's not for the PC. And lucasarts have been copping an absolute beating over this fact for more than a year now. You think that if they really were looking seriously at it in the future that they would drop some sort of hint...I personally am completely bummed by the fact that it's not for PC as well. While it's possible that Lucasarts may be sitting on the news of a PC conversion until closer to the date, I do wonder about the intelligence of such a decision. The fan backlash they are currently receiving (they built their business on PC gaming and have many loyal fans in that market) has to be pretty damaging... BTW - That petition is horribly written.

03-23-2008, 03:34 PM	#8 (permalink)
Comco Administrator Realname: Tim Join Date: May 2006 Location: ACT, Australia Posts: 2,696 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	I read an article with a leading Direct X developer just the other day that made the observation that approximately 80% of the cost of modern computer games is in creating the art assets etc. That tends to make sense too...It's all level designers, modellers, animators etc etc...A lot of games have only one or two AI programmers etc... If 80% is even roughly close to the figure, then the argument that "it costs too much" to develop for the PC is simply rubbish. They already have the game built. We're talking a port here. I just don't see it being the equivalent of developing a whole new game...

03-23-2008, 05:33 PM	#10 (permalink)
Guerrilla Worldwide Phenomenon Realname: Mika Join Date: May 2006 Location: Helsinki Age: 25 Posts: 2,808 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	The common thinking is that PC games aren't as profitable as Console games (which is why practically no one makes strategy games or simulations anymore; they don't port to the consoles), given that it's the easiest platform for software piracy and because wildly different hardware specs make for a very fragmented market. In a year or so, the 'average' off the shelf gaming machine should have enough kick to it to run the DMM and Euphoria bits no prolem, so I'm guessing we'll see it announced in about 6-12 months from the initial release, if the consoles make enough money. Personally, I think the whole 'ooh, the PC market is big, bad and unprofitable' line of thinking is a bit silly. Publishers should try making games for the people who actually buy them, instead of worrying about everyone who wasn't going to buy the game in the first place. Also, damn it, would a game that actually requires you to use a keyboard be too much to ask every now and then.
	WIP: Semi-Random Projects Comco: i entered it manually in the back end

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