GDC 2007: Hayden Blackman and the Force

If it isn't apparent from the pre-vis video that was released months ago, LucasArts wanted emphasize "kicking ass" with the Force in their game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

But how does the man behind the force, George Lucas take to all this Force-ass-kicking? Well, Star Wars: Force Unleashed project lead, Hayden Blackman informed the press at the Game Developers Conference 2007 that when he put together a "pre-viz" video (we're assuming that it's similar to the one released to the press) that showed off the interactivity and the force related physics in the game to Mr. Lucas, it was one of the most frightening moments of his life. He explains:

Here we were showing the guy who created the force where we wanted to go with the games. ...He turned to us and said, "That's great, that's exactly what you need to do for games, go make that game." And I was terrified because we didn't have the technology to implement this into a game yet.

Over at LucasArts, they define the term "next-gen gameplay" by its focus on simulation-based gameplay as opposed to hard-coded scripted events. Over at LucasArts, while they still have to "hard code" certain aspects of next-gen gameplay, it is the exception rather than the norm.

Given that the concept they gave Lucas got the approval but they didn't have the tech yet. And LucasArts wanted to do less hard-coding, and focus more on simulation. It's no surprise that they're putting their eggs in the much touted Digital Molecular Matter physics, Euphoria, and Havok engine basket.

Will those engines make LucasArts' Star Wars: The Force Unleashed match up to the pre viz that Blackman showed Lucas? Well, given that there isn't a narrow enough release window yet, we'll just have to hope and pray for a demo or something so we'd have something to chew on.