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LucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company is a leading international developer and publisher of entertainment and educational software. The company was founded in 1982 by filmmaker George Lucas to provide an interactive element in his vision of a state-of-the-art, multi-faceted entertainment company. LucasArts publishes an extensive line of interactive titles across multiple platforms. LucasArts' design philosophy is consistent with its movie heritage. Each title combines vital film elements -- compelling storytelling, painstaking character development and vivid settings -- with the most sophisticated technology available to game makers today. As the realms of interactive games and film converge, LucasArts is on the cutting edge of visual effects, 3-D animation, live action video and interactive digital sound. Additionally, the company makes interactivity -- or "gameplay" -- a priority in its products since it is that element which distinguishes our art form from more traditional, linear mediums such as television and film.
Story Telling: A flying snail helps save the world's animals; space explorers are kidnapped to an alien planet; a biker must reveal a murderer; a dog and rabbit scour the country for a missing Bigfoot; mutant tentacles threaten to take over the world; the Empire must be prevented from ruling the galaxy; and potent treasures must be prevented from falling into the hands of the Nazis. These are a sample of the diverse stories brought to life by LucasArts. The company's breadth of titles includes original concepts, as well as games based on the STAR WARS® and INDIANA JONES® properties. LucasArts marries compelling stories, intuitive interaction and cutting edge technology. To accomplish this, the company maintains a creative and supportive "organic" development environment in which designers have the freedom and resources to pursue their own game ideas.
Graphics: With the artists in LucasArts' substantial in-house department specializing in fields as diverse as fine arts, traditional animation, graphic design, technical drawing, architecture and video production, the company's games benefit from a great variety of art talent. LucasArts has pushed the boundaries of 2-D animation, 3-D graphics, motion capture and live action in games. Always setting new standards for graphics, LucasArts now is seamlessly compositing elements from all these art styles in its titles.
Sound: An internal team of composers/sound designers creates sound for LucasArts' games. In 1991, the team designed LucasArts' patented interactive sound system, iMUSE(TM) (Interactive Music and Sound Effects). iiMUSE allows a game's music and sound effects to respond smoothly and spontaneously to unpredictable player choices, giving the musical score of a game the same quality and importance it has in a film -- creating pace, setting mood, building suspense and paying off dramatic moments. Originally developed to manage MIDI sound, LucasArts now is able to apply the benefits of iMUSE to fully digital soundtracks. Real bands, orchestral scores and custom-designed sound effects highlight games.
Technology: Use of "off-the-shelf" software is the exception, rather than the rule at LucasArts. To help itself make the best games possible, the company is constantly developing new game engines and other technologies. Examples include SCUMM(TM) Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion®), the adventure game engine; INSANE(TM) (Interactive Streaming and Animation Engine), the 3-D video streaming engine created originally for Rebel Assault(TM); and the Jedi(TM) Engine, the 3-D first-person engine designed for Dark Forces(TM). LucasArts now is integrating these engines to create titles with more diverse gameplay.
Titles for Children: Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion(TM), scheduled for release in early 1996, will mark LucasArts' entrance into the home-based early entertainment market. The title will marry the company's expertise in creating adult-targeted interactive entertainment with its experience in developing institution-based educational multimedia programs. Teamed with partners such as Apple Computer, The National Geographic Society, Visa USA and The National Audubon Society, LucasArts has created multimedia products for schools addressing subject matter ranging from reading and language arts to financial management and environmental science. LucasArts' educational multimedia products merge computer software with high quality sound, text, video, still images, animation and simulation to create multi-sensory learning experiences which encourage creativity, critical thinking and problem solving. The products allow students to explore and analyze vast amounts of information with ease in a creative environment, as well as to create their own multimedia presentations.
Achievements: LucasArts holds the #2 market share for computer entertainment software companies. Its titles have hit quantitative, as well as qualitative, high marks. Rebel Assault is the best-selling CD-ROM entertainment title of all time, with worldwide sales of more than one million copies. The company's entertainment titles have earned significant recognition from leading industry publications and organizations, garnering more than 100 awards. Learning projects have been similarly honored. Mac Magic(TM), in which multimedia stations for students were introduced into a classroom, won a "Daily Point of Light" award from President George Bush. Treasury of Literature: Tiger Tales(TM) , an interactive video disc program, won the 1993 "Silver Apple" at the National Film and Video Festival. Additionally, Paul Parkranger and the Mystery of the Disappearing Ducks(TM) earned two high honors from the Association of Visual Communicators in 1994 -- a "Gold Cindy" and Special Achievement for Instructional Design.
The Lucas Companies: LucasArts is one of three Lucas companies. Lucas Digital Ltd., comprised of Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, is dedicated to serving the needs of the entertainment industry for visual effects and audio post-production. Lucasfilm Ltd. includes George Lucas' feature film and television activities, as well as the business activities of the THX Group and Licensing.
Games released under LucasArts
- Star Wars TIE Fighter
- Star Wars Rebel Assault
- Sam & Max Hit the Road
- Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire
- Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb