

Inside Industrial Light and Magic's Secret Star Wars VR Lab - petewailes
http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/13/9131805/ilm-ilmxlab-interview-virtual-reality-star-wars-movies

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ffk
LucasArts used to be a very well known game developer studio. Many of the
early star wars games were very well received and highly innovative. Star
Wars: Tie Fighter is consistently considered one of the best games of all
time. They also released one of the earliest games to make use of a dedicated
GPU in PCs. Over time, the quality dropped off and left many fans
disappointed.

There were still a few gems after 2000, e.g. Knight of the Old Republic and
Battlefield. However, the sequel to KotOR was released unfinished. This era
seems to be filled with collaborations where other companies performed much of
the work. I suspect using external resources caused a drop in in-house talent
and ultimately left the studio unable to compete against newer and more
ambitious studios.

I hope this marks a return of an innovative and competitive LucasArts. It
would be wonderful to have the same level of early innovation back and
associated with the star wars brand.

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mstromb
After Disney bought LucasFilm they laid off everyone at LucasArts except those
responsible for handling licensing [1]. ILM's work here seems focused on more
cinematic stuff - the word "game" doesn't appear once in the article.

By the way, a lot of the missing content in KotOR 2 has been restored by a mod
called "The Sith Lords Restored Content Modification." There's a standalone
version if you still have the original discs rattling around, but the easiest
way to get it now is to use the Steam Workshop [2]; the game was recently
updated (after 10 years!) to add easier mod support, controller support, etc.

[1] [http://www.ibtimes.com/disney-closes-lucasarts-video-game-
ar...](http://www.ibtimes.com/disney-closes-lucasarts-video-game-arm-
lucasfilm-cancels-star-wars-games-1169515)

[2]
[http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=485537...](http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=485537937)

~~~
jeremiep
They do mention gaming applications in the video, however they will focus on
cinematic applications.

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Animats
The description is disappointing. It sounds like VR from the 1990s. CAVE
systems with flat walls and annoying corner effects have been around since
1992. I'd expect Lucasfilm to at least have a big curved screen, like this one
from 2013.[1] People at Lucasfilm seem to think that people will "want to
follow the droids before they enter the scene", but other than fanatical fans
(the ones who edit Wookiepedia), probably not many will.

Cameron says the Oculus Rift form of VR is a "a yawn".[2] That's surprising
from a director who has a track record of using CG, IMAX, and 3D very well,
and wants higher frame rates. Cameron even uses a VR device as a working tool
in shooting CG movies. But he doesn't see it as an entertainment delivery
vehicle.

VR is sometimes interesting if you can go in there and _do_ something, but as
a way of watching a show with a static plot, it's not that exciting.

The main game for the Oculus Rift seems to be a roller coaster simulator.[3]
VR is apparently able to make this reviewer come close to throwing up. Some
roller coaster fans may consider that a feature, not a bug. But it may limit
the size of the market.

[1] [http://io9.com/5986569/new-virtual-reality-cave-brings-us-
on...](http://io9.com/5986569/new-virtual-reality-cave-brings-us-one-step-
closer-to-star-treks-holodeck) [2] [http://www.gamespot.com/articles/james-
cameron-on-vr-meh/110...](http://www.gamespot.com/articles/james-cameron-on-
vr-meh/1100-6423269/) [3]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMrhaLb6UeQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMrhaLb6UeQ)

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rocky1138
There was a larger scale Cave at Communitech in Waterloo, Canada for years.
They've only just recently gotten rid of it. It was really impressive
technology, but never had a solid demo to show. I imagine having one at ILM
would solve that :)

