Making a familiar franchise into unique game

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SAN FRANCISCO -- With the cost of video-game development rocketing past $20 million for top-end titles, the industry has moved closer to franchises and recognizable content from other media. But the challenge is: How do you make a familiar game exciting enough that people view it as a totally new venture?That was one of the recurring themes at the annual Game Developers Conference, the industry's largest convention of game professionals, held in San Francisco last week.LucasArts is addressing the challenge with a mix of old-school storytelling and some of the latest game technology to imbue its upcoming title, "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed," with a new sense of wonder.There are few intellectual properties as recognizable as "Star Wars," something San Francisco's LucasArts has mined successfully in a number of other endeavors. With characters drawn from six popular movies, a "Star Wars"-based game can count on an automatic audience. But offer a tepid story or a rehash of old games and that legion of fans won't blindly open their wallets.LucasArts officials knew this four years ago, when they started work on the latest "Star Wars" game, the first designed for a next-generation console, to headline a reboot of the LucasArts studio. "Star Wars" creator George Lucas helped guide the team in early 2004, highlighting the period between episodes three and four as fertile ground for exploration.After members of focus groups consistently asked for a force-wielding experience, LucasArts settled on a concept that bridges episodes three and four and features a secret apprentice of Darth Vader, played by the user. Trying to rid the galaxy of remaining Jedi knights, the secret apprentice must learn skills and eventually wield them in an over-the-top manner to reach his goals. Lucas liked what he saw."He said, 'Go make that game. That's perfect for a game,' " said Haden Blackman, project lead for "Force Unleashed."The story arc allows the game to serve as a quasi-episode 3.5, filling holes in the story that set up the second trilogy. Fans familiar with the saga will easily spot plot points that lay some of the framework for the final three movies. The hope is that players will step into a "Star Wars" game that advances the overall story line, said Blackman."We hope this feels like a cinematic experience, with environments that feel epic and big," Blackman said. "But I don't want to say it's a movie, because this is an interactive medium. We want you to wield the controller and feel like you're driving the story."Part of the appeal of the story comes from the nature of the secret apprentice, whose name is under wraps. Using the force early on, the character can wreak havoc without a conscience, setting up some characters for epic destruction. The force in the game carries the potential for extreme strength, with the apprentice eventually able to crash Star Destroyer ships with the right training.But how to make a "Star Wars" game featuring the force seem authentic and new? The team at LucasArts knew early on it would require new technology to make the apprentice's moves come to life.The first solution came from a company called NaturalMotion, with studios in San Francisco and Oxford, England. NaturalMotion developed a character-animation simulation called Euphoria that instills computer-created characters with realistic reflexes, a nervous system and a sense of self-preservation.The game will be one of the first in which players can interact with computer characters who will react differently depending on how they're contacted, their positioning and other environmental cues. This was vital to illustrate the apprentice's power as he literally pushes people and grabs them using the force.Storm troopers programmed with Euphoria duck out of the way of flying debris or grab onto ledges or other soldiers when they're gripped or pushed by the force.The storm troopers are terrified of the force.LucasArts also turned to a technology called Digital Molecular Matter from Pixelux Entertainment in Switzerland. The simulation engine, when placed on a part of the game's environment, allows it to react realistically and dynamically. Metal responds like metal and can be bent with great effort. Wood splinters like wood. A player can use the force to pry open metal doors, and they react with the correct physical traits.(E-mail Ryan Kim at rkim(at)sfchronicle.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)