LucasArts Developers Talk Star Wars Game Development Strategy

Will Freeman of industry news site Develop recently interviewed several LucasArts employees about the process of developing games set in the Star Wars universe during a visit to Lucas' Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco. At the time, the LucasArts crew was polishing up a new Clone Wars game and its related TV series, as well as finishing up work on Lego Indiana Jones and a new Battlefront release for handhelds.

It's no secret that Star Wars is one of the most ferociously guarded and multifaceted IP's around. As Freeman learned, though, each effort in the canon manifests by way of a deeply collaborative environment (overseen by George, of course). Clone Wars game developer Vince Kudirka recounts how helpful it was to have the LucasFilm animation team offering advice and feedback on character animations early in the game's design. The team behind the Clone Wars TV show even shared technology with the game design team, helping them maintain authenticity.

The licensing department reviews all things Star Wars and has the final say on how the IP is used, a process that some developers find liberating. The Force Unleashed producer Cameron Suey recounts the game's design phase, stating that the team "shot for the moon" in terms of content they'd like to include, and then let the licensing team determine what wouldn't make the cut.

Dave Collins, LucasArts game sound supervisor and voice director, notes the importance of iconic sounds necessary to flesh-out a Star Wars experience. In order to make a game feel like Star Wars, he explains, "there are certain audio anchors that people need emotionally." Collins also admits that while there's still room for creativity and flexibility when being faithful to the source material, he concedes that "Everything we do at Lucas is definitely in service of a license."