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Idea: Star Wars Games Preservation

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In this topic I would like to discuss and talk about all the game preservation efforts that has been made, are currently underway and that people have planned for to make in the future.

I am a newbie when it comes to editing and making movies and I also would like to ask you people for help on this topic. After some long searching I finally have found a few programs I am comfortbale with to use. I am using Video Edit Magic 4.4 to edit, I use Super to convert and I use Fraps to record from the games itself. With this last program I have 1 big problem: They say the counter wont be visible in the recordings, but it is for me. Pushing some keys that they said would remove it doesnt really help either. Who can help me out by getting rid of this somehow?

Next up is a list of projects that I know off and I hope the people working on them will permit me saying it here.

Projects known to have finished:
Bounty Hunter 1.0
KOTOR Episode 1

Projects currently under way:
Bounty Hunter 2.0
Clone Wars
KOTOR Episode 2

Projects that are planned
KOTOR Episode 3

I have some games myself (mostly the pc games) and I would like to try to make my own preservations. I do need help however, either in someone who wants to help me record or who can fix my Fraps problem.

I am also curious on people views on how a preservation should be like: Full-blown movie like like KOTOR and Bounty Hunter? Or like some Youtube movies I have found from Rebel Assault 2 and Dark Forces with just the cutscenes and gameplay combined (and cut where possible)?

For me? I like both to be honest and prefer what ever works best. I cant see how I could ever make a movie version from say Jedi Outcast, so I would settle with all the cutscenes with added gameplay in between.

So who have tips for me or even want to help me with recording? Or who was some great high-quality movies from SW games?

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Sounds good.

care to share some info on - Kotor ep 1? which you list as completed, I'd be interested in checking that out...
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Johnny Ringo said:

care to share some info on - Kotor ep 1? which you list as completed, I'd be interested in checking that out...


This is a movie project from someone called Kaydon Sentry who wants to tell the story of the first KOTOR game in 3 episodes. It was my introduction to fan-preservations and I really recommend this to see and download. Where you can download it and more information you can find here:

http://z11.invisionfree.com/KOTOR_Movies/index.php?

I have found someone who is willing to record the entire Dark Forces game for me, so this will be my first edit preservation if I arrive the files. Still I would appreciate getting tips regarding my Fraps problem with the problem that I cannot get rid of the FPS counter in my recordings.

Others that are high on my list: Podracer, Racers Revenge (PS 2 game I dont own sadly), the entire Dark Forces/Jedi Knight saga and Shadows of the Empire. Ofcourse I hope to be able to see X-wing and TIE Fighter saga also from that person who can record Dark Forces for me. But who knows, many requests have been send, and perhaps someone here is willing to help me by recording things?
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Thanks, I'll definitely want to check that out, I also want to show it to some mates who are interested but don't have the patience to play Kotor.

Do you know if anyone has tackled Jedi outcast? That is something I'd like to see, I really enjoyed playing the game, and If I recall it had some decent cut scenes in it.

Or are you planning to tackle it eventually?
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As far as I know nobody has tackled either 1 of the Dark Forces/ Jedi Knight games. So I am planning on doing it myself if nobody wants to tackle it. But I could use some help. Since you are interested let me ask you the question: What would you prefer: Movie styled with not so much gameplay in it? Or would you be satisfied with just the cutscenes with some added gameplay? Cause I will be needing a lot of help for the first option, option 2 I can do and I have already found a few corners to cut.
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There was a project to preserve the Dark Forces cut scenes. The disc looked pretty cool, and it was available via a Myspleen torrent. Its long dead now, and I havent been able to find a copy anywhere. There were no play throughs I believe, just the cut scenes. I would love to see it. There is a topic somewhere here about it.

ThrowgnCpr’s edits on Fanedit.org

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Thanks, sounds like a solid lead I can follow if the person I have contacted doesnt come trough with his recordings.

I see you have quite an impressive list of edits too. What program do you use for making it a dvd? Cause that was also 1 thing I needed to research for whenever I finish either the Dark Forces or the Jedi Outcast one.
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I use either Ulead DVD Workshop 2 (dont get the new versions, there is very limited control) or Sony DVD Architect. Most people use DVD Lab Pro for things. It can do anything you want. There is a bit of a learning curve though. Check out the technical section here and over at the fanedit forums. There are lots of posts over there about DVD authoring.

ThrowgnCpr’s edits on Fanedit.org

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Thank you ThrowgnCpr, I will check that out when I am done with editing.

As of now I have 2 people who want to help me with recording the entire Dark Forces game. Then again I havent heard back from them and I am a bit of a mr Negative so I just hope they come trough.

I am working on Episode 1 Podracer and after finally optaining a good complete copy (yes I use a .iso downloaded version since I never was able to buy this game) I was surprised at a few things: Very nice good cutscenes infront of some races (that I never saw before in my old illegal copy) and I have a weird thing too: THere is no boost it seems. For those of you who remembers this old relic: The boost was there right from the beginning right? If so, does anybody have a clue how I can get the boost back besides a re-instal?
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Good luck on your project Exar Xan! I personally think preserving some of these older games is a very worthwhile endeavor. Many Star Wars video games have really interesting stories.

There was some mention above about a project that compiled the cut scenes from "Dark Forces." It was a project by Kaal-Jhyy, and it actually was a preservation of "Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II." He had two threads, which you can find HERE and HERE.

As for what you mentioned above whether a project should feature just the cut scenes, or combine the cut scenes and gameplay....I think it depends on the project and the game itself. On the original "Bounty Hunter" DVD MoveAlong and I put together, we only featured the pre-rendered cut scenes, but it made the story hard to follow. On our new 2.0 DVD, we show the pre-rendered cut scenes, the in-game engine cut scenes, and gameplay. I think the new "movie" we've put together is much better. I think showing at least some gameplay in a project couldn't be a bad thing.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter - Beyond The Game 2.0

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter - Beyond The Game

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I agree. I have searched trough the 2 topics, tried the links and they are either dead or the torrents are dead. I also contacted a few people who were saying that they had it so maybe I get a reply from them.

So about my project from Podracer. I was planning to make it like this:

Main Menu - Background from the original game menu - Menu links are 'Amateur Tournaments' 'Second Tournaments' 'Galactic Podracing Tournaments ' (Note: I need to get the original names yes) and 'Bonus Material'.

All the 3 Podracing Tournaments links bring you into a menu where you can select to play them all or select wich race you want to see and wich chapter of each race. I want to divide a race into 4 chapters: Intro, Lap 1, Lap 2 and Lap 3.

Bonus Material: Not quite settled yet on them so ideas are welcome. I plan to have the entire intro to the game as 1 bonus. I also want to add Watto humming the Cantina Band Song from ANH (wich he does originally after a race with the rankings) to the cantina we see before selecting a race.

Also I would like something that I call 'Meeting the Podracers', but not yet sure how to fill this. If this can be a complilation between text about them, their in-game model animation like when you win their podracer or when you inspect your racer or if I have to go for something else.

Then I dont know: Watto's shop and junkyard seem to be most likely filled with text in screen so not really interested to look at.
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There is also Star Wars Battlefront taken from the game, available at Myspleen. I have downloaded it from Rapidshare. Took some time, but I got it.
KOTOR is great, trying to get Bounty but there are no seeders at MySpleen and there are no links in Rapidshare.
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ThrowgnCpr said:

Galactus, do you have that Dark Forces II cut-scenes disc? It would be good to make that available again
I own Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II. Even the CD-ROM version of Jedi Outcast. Although I have no clue as to what I should do for this. ThrowgnCpr, can you PM me for suggestions?
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Strooper: Can you perhaps put those rapidshare links here for that one? Sounds interesting to me.

DarkGryphon2048: I will PM you something :).
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Exar Xan said:

Strooper: Can you perhaps put those rapidshare links here for that one? Sounds interesting to me.

DarkGryphon2048: I will PM you something :).
Message received.
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I remember reading about shadows of the empire as a project to be made into a fanedited movie using the game cutscenes and voiceovers from the PC version as well as the picture only n64 version.

Someone should put up a thread for the Indiana Jones games made for the Nintendo entetainment system Like Raiders of the Lost ark and temple of doom, as well as the PC versions. noy for movie edits but there seem to be some many type of threads like this for star wars and none for Indiana Jones.

You also have the Fate of Atlantis Indiana Jones PC game that was adapted for comic books by Dark Horse Comics.

Then there is the infernal machine and emperor's tomb.

A video only demo for the new unreleased game simply titled Indiana Jones that uses the same engine as force unleashed.

What systems was Last Crusade released on?

One of my Favorite games is the snes trilogy game for indiana jones produced by the super star wars trilogy team, i remember being wowed by the JVC music in midi form on the game. One of the reasons i went out and bought the remastered score for raiders produced by Nick Redman.

The nes version of empire strikes back when it was released was simply awesome the game had still like cutscenes and a scene where Luke Confronts Vader and even James Earl Jones vader voice was sampled in the game.

Unlike the atari game this game had the first satisfactory rendering of the battle of hoth where you could wrap the tow cable around the walker. The same scene was redone and revisited in mode7 when super empire was released for the snes.

As for movies made from games one i wish someone would do is Mass Effect, or blue dragon.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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skyjedi2005 said:

I remember reading about shadows of the empire as a project to be made into a fanedited movie using the game cutscenes and voiceovers from the PC version as well as the picture only n64 version.

Someone should put up a thread for the Indiana Jones games made for the Nintendo entetainment system Like Raiders of the Lost ark and temple of doom, as well as the PC versions. noy for movie edits but there seem to be some many type of threads like this for star wars and none for Indiana Jones.

You also have the Fate of Atlantis Indiana Jones PC game that was adapted for comic books by Dark Horse Comics.

Then there is the infernal machine and emperor's tomb.

A video only demo for the new unreleased game simply titled Indiana Jones that uses the same engine as force unleashed.

What systems was Last Crusade released on?

One of my Favorite games is the snes trilogy game for indiana jones produced by the super star wars trilogy team, i remember being wowed by the JVC music in midi form on the game. One of the reasons i went out and bought the remastered score for raiders produced by Nick Redman.

The nes version of empire strikes back when it was released was simply awesome the game had still like cutscenes and a scene where Luke Confronts Vader and even James Earl Jones vader voice was sampled in the game.

Unlike the atari game this game had the first satisfactory rendering of the battle of hoth where you could wrap the tow cable around the walker. The same scene was redone and revisited in mode7 when super empire was released for the snes.

As for movies made from games one i wish someone would do is Mass Effect, or blue dragon.
Incorrect about The Force Unleashed. Force Unleashed uses the engine originally developed for the "upcoming" Indiana Jones game.
Last Crusade adventure was released upon the PC in VGA 256 colour. Raiders of the Lost Ark was for Atari 2600. The SNES game you're thinking of is Indiana Jones Greatest Adventures.
Currently I'm using Download Helper and grabbing a complete playthrough of the Infernal Machine. It saves it directly from YouTube as a FLV format on my hard drive.
I also own Emperor's Tomb on PC as well.
I might have slight interest in the Lego Indiana Jones game. Not sure since I was anticipating the 360/PS3 (I own a 360) Indiana Jones 3D video game more.

I remember playing the Super Star Wars Trilogy of games for the SNES.
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skyjedi2005 said:

I remember reading about shadows of the empire as a project to be made into a fanedited movie using the game cutscenes and voiceovers from the PC version as well as the picture only n64 version.


I think daveytod was going to try to make the Shadows of the Empire project, but I think he has given up due to difficulties with it. I would LOVE to see that project come to fruition. It was such a great story and complete packaging, that I know a cool little film/preservation project could come of it. I really hope someone takes up a full-fledged project sometime.

DarkGryphon2048 said:

Currently I'm using Download Helper and grabbing a complete playthrough of the Infernal Machine. It saves it directly from YouTube as a FLV format on my hard drive.


...and you should really do a run through and use a high-quality capture if you are serious about starting a project. flvs from websites are so crappy in quality usually, they really should be used as a last resort. have you tried contacting the person who uploaded it? sometimes they are happy to send out the original higher quality video. If you are really wanting to preserve this stuff, you should get as close to the source material quality as is possible, IMHO.

ThrowgnCpr’s edits on Fanedit.org

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[quote=Exar Xan]Strooper: Can you perhaps put those rapidshare links here for that one? Sounds interesting to me.[quote]

Of course, here it is: http://fanedit.org/415/

There was also "Interactive Board Game" with some video showing Darth Vader prepared only for the game but I don't know where to get it. I got an incomplete torrent for that and is very good.
http://fanedit.org/153/
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"Episode III - The Video Game Movie", has no rapidshare links either and it is listed at Myspleen but no seeders... http://fanedit.org/155/


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ThrowgnCpr said:

skyjedi2005 said:

I remember reading about shadows of the empire as a project to be made into a fanedited movie using the game cutscenes and voiceovers from the PC version as well as the picture only n64 version.


I think daveytod was going to try to make the Shadows of the Empire project, but I think he has given up due to difficulties with it. I would LOVE to see that project come to fruition. It was such a great story and complete packaging, that I know a cool little film/preservation project could come of it. I really hope someone takes up a full-fledged project sometime.

DarkGryphon2048 said:

Currently I'm using Download Helper and grabbing a complete playthrough of the Infernal Machine. It saves it directly from YouTube as a FLV format on my hard drive.


...and you should really do a run through and use a high-quality capture if you are serious about starting a project. flvs from websites are so crappy in quality usually, they really should be used as a last resort. have you tried contacting the person who uploaded it? sometimes they are happy to send out the original higher quality video. If you are really wanting to preserve this stuff, you should get as close to the source material quality as is possible, IMHO.
It's just only temporary until I have them onto disc. More for fun right now compared to anything. Besides, I'm already up to number 51 on all this .flv thing with Infernal Machine. Quality is great for a highly temporary version too. Knowing me I'd be using God-mode for these "preservations". I look at the Infernal Machine .flv's more as a Walkthrough compared to anything at this moment. As I've already said, just more for fun.
But DFNYC's and your DVD for Indiana Jones documentaries I already deleted the .flv files. More interested in having these on DVD and figured the ones I grabbed from YouTube were the "preview" versions. Well, I could only find both of the Raiders of the Lost Ark stuff. Could even do a PiF chain thingy if needed be.*shrugs*
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figured it was about time I chimed in here. The 'Battlefront - Journal of the 501st', 'Episode III - The Video Game Movie' and 'Star Wars Interactive Board Game DVD' were all mine, but I'm not surprised that the torrents are dead. I might pop them up on Demonoid but my seeding capabilities arn't the best.

RE: Shadows Of The EMpire, I've got all the material I need bar the N64 still cutscenes, I just couldnt find a way to capture them

I'm always at work on a movie of 'The Clone Wars' from the PS2/Gamecube with footage captured by another member of the forum, but work is going fairly slowly due to other commitments. It's going to be in the same vein as my previous releases, cutscenes interspersed with minimal gameplay to provide a complete storyline

FINISHED:
The Sith Revealed - A Scrapbook
Episode III The Video Game - The Movie
24: The Missing Day
Star Wars - The Interactive Board Game DVD
Battlefront - Journal of the 501st
The Clones Revealed

email me for details daveytod AT btinternet DOT com

 

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daveytod said:

RE: Shadows Of The EMpire, I've got all the material I need bar the N64 still cutscenes, I just couldnt find a way to capture them


so a ROM and some screen capture software didnt work? hmmm, I would attempt this myself, but I am horrible at video games. just atrocious, but I would be willing to technically assist anyone willing to attempt this. I'd really like to see this Shadows project come to fruition, and I'm glad you still have it as a possibility. If anyone thinks they can help with gameplay, let us know. We've gotta find a way to get daveytod those cutscenes!!!

ThrowgnCpr’s edits on Fanedit.org

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Im sure there must be some retro gamer out there with an N64 they could hook up to a DVD recorder

FINISHED:
The Sith Revealed - A Scrapbook
Episode III The Video Game - The Movie
24: The Missing Day
Star Wars - The Interactive Board Game DVD
Battlefront - Journal of the 501st
The Clones Revealed

email me for details daveytod AT btinternet DOT com