Star Wars Battlefront 3 Fan Remake Reportedly Steam Bound

[Steven Bogos]

Star Wars Battlefront 3 Fan Remake Reportedly Steam Bound

Valve will be the official distributor for Galaxy in Turmoil, the fan-made Battlefront 3 remake.

Frontwire Studios [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120884-Battlefront-III-Died-Just-Inches-From-the-Finish-Line] have been hard at work remaking the cancelled game, and now it's finally been approved for Steam release.

"It is with great pleasure that as of today I am able to officially announce that Frontwire Studios has officially signed a distribution deal with Steam/Valve for the game Galaxy in Turmoil. After ongoing discussion between Valve Representatives and myself, Valve/Steam has agreed to ship Galaxy in Turmoil to it's millions of users for FREE," wrote Frontwire president Tony Romanelli in a press release [http://frontwirestudios.com/official-announcement-steam-distribution-deal/].

For those of you worried about the house of mouse slapping down a cease and desist, "I'll be honest - I've had mild concerns myself from time to time," said Romanelli, "However Valve clearly lacks that same concern. By agreeing to publish Galaxy in Turmoil, Valve is assisting us in growing and ensuring the longevity of the Galaxy in Turmoil project and community as a whole."

Source: Tripwire [http://frontwirestudios.com/official-announcement-steam-distribution-deal/]

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[bladestorm91]

Modders can make better games from scrap today than developers can make from premium materials.

Shame. Shame. SHAME.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Modders can make better games from scrap today than developers can make from premium materials.

Shame. Shame. SHAME.

Unless Disney wants to take on the modding community, this might see the light of day.

 

[Recusant]

You know, it would be thrilling to see the soulless cash-in trounced by [a] modder working on their own dime.

But if I want that, I have the Dark Mod. Disney's one of the most lawsuit-happy companies out there, and the world outside of gaming plays by different rules. This is probably going to get crushed, and as much of a power in the industry as Valve is, I could see this easily leading to a heavy lawsuit against them and the House of Mouse foisting ever more power onto EA.

Of course, neither Valve nor Disney are stupid, and it's entirely possible (likely, even) that they've made arrangements for this, in which case- well, if it's good enough to make EA look bad, I foresee some bad consequences down the road anyway. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Since it's being handed out for free, it'll be difficult to sue them for copyright infringement since no money is being earned from it.

 

[The Material Sheep]

Since it's being handed out for free, it'll be difficult to sue them for copyright infringement since no money is being earned from it.

That actually has nothing to do with it apparently when it comes to copy right. Its just a quick way to get attention on you, where you can usually slide by if you don't charge for things. Thing is, if Valve is willing to release it I wonder if they have an ace in their sleeve or an agreement with Disney over this.

 

[Kajin]

If anyone who reads this has even a shred of a soul left, they will throw money at it until the people behind it drown in their swimming pool full of diamonds.

I don't care that it's free. THROW MONEY AT IT.

 

[Neonsilver]

Since it's being handed out for free, it'll be difficult to sue them for copyright infringement since no money is being earned from it.

There are already a few examples of fan games that were canceled due to getting cease and desist letters of the copyright holders and I'm sure they were all inteded to be free. For example the my little pony beat em up or chrono resurrection.

 

[Stewie Plisken]

Since it's being handed out for free, it'll be difficult to sue them for copyright infringement since no money is being earned from it.

There are already a few examples of fan games that were canceled due to getting cease and desist letters of the copyright holders and I'm sure they were all inteded to be free. For example the my little pony beat em up or chrono resurrection.

Several, in fact. One needs not look further than pretty much ANY mod ever attempted carrying the name of a Konami license. All of them free, none of them even distributed as stand-alones (meaning you had to have the game they were modding), all of them with C&D orders and sent to hell and beyond.

I will be very surprised if this doesn't get shut down. It's Disney, crass as the comment may had been there's probably a reason why Lucas had called them "white slavers". I want it to come out, obviously, but even if Disney themselves don't care, I can see EA calling mom to deal with it if and when it has enough concurrent players to rival their $200 mess of a game.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Thing is, if Valve is willing to release it I wonder if they have an ace in their sleeve or an agreement with Disney over this.

It'd have to be EA, they hold the rights to Star Wars games. Disney can't break with them without being sued. EA and Valve have been at odds since EA launched Origin. I don't think EA and Valve would have come to a mutually beneficial agreement, likely they will Cease & Desist this game in to the dust.

 

[chadachada123]

Calling it: This will (rightfully) get a bunch of hype, Disney will shut it down, Disney/EA look bad while Valve gets tons of free positive publicity, Valve hires the team to make a stand-alone version of "Stellar Conflicts: Offensive Line" which ends up being a great success. Then someone makes a Star Wars texture mod, and voila: Everyone wins. Except for Disney/EA, who can fuck right off for ruining a good series.

 

[CellShaded]

Snip.

Yeah, absolutely. People praising this as "so much better than EA's Battlefront" are just hate circle-jerking on the new one. This trailer just shows off a few assets. Not a game. It gives 0 indication of the quality. And going by models alone, it doesn't look too hot. But fuck EA, right? Don't get me wrong, I also think the new Battlefront is a total disappointment, but this hasn't gotten my hopes up for something "better".

It'll probably get smashed down by Disney before long anyway.

 

[Neonsilver]

Since it's being handed out for free, it'll be difficult to sue them for copyright infringement since no money is being earned from it.

There are already a few examples of fan games that were canceled due to getting cease and desist letters of the copyright holders and I'm sure they were all inteded to be free. For example the my little pony beat em up or chrono resurrection.

Several, in fact. One needs not look further than pretty much ANY mod ever attempted carrying the name of a Konami license. All of them free, none of them even distributed as stand-alones (meaning you had to have the game they were modding), all of them with C&D orders and sent to hell and beyond.

I will be very surprised if this doesn't get shut down. It's Disney, crass as the comment may had been there's probably a reason why Lucas had called them "white slavers". I want it to come out, obviously, but even if Disney themselves don't care, I can see EA calling mom to deal with it if and when it has enough concurrent players to rival their $200 mess of a game.

Personally I hope that they get a cease and desist sooner than later, it will come anyway. However once the cease and desist comes they can just change the models and turn it into an original game and changing the models will be more work the closer the game is to being finished.

 

[bladestorm91]

Modders can make better games from scrap today than developers can make from premium materials.

Shame. Shame. SHAME.

snip

I'm speaking that as more of a general thing. The elder scroll modding scene is a more mainstream testament to that, but even more than them is when you find absolute gems on ModDB.

For example The Dark Mod is Doom3 mod and what happens when a bunch of modders couldn't wait for a new Thief anymore. When a new one did come out, their free mod (which is stand-alone now) absolutely shits on that abomination.

Even the seemingly deadish RTS genre has a big modding scene, almost every RTS has mods which make it better, some have entire campaigns and a few of them remake the entire game, both with new voice acting and cutscenes (there is only so much they can do with the latter).

Modders actually understand what problems a game has, have more creativity and fix design "flaws" of games. Really, it's what most of them do, fix absolutely shitty design decisions. Which is all they need to do apparently because the games come out noticeably better, shame about the base game stories, those are unfixable.

Design has taken a nose dive in the last decade, developers just lazily and shamelessly just throw bad or boring game mechanics and design like they have a quota to fulfill (they probably do). Detective vision and its ilk is the new popular game mechanic (and sometimes design) that they put into games where it doesn't belong. Waypoint Markers have existed for a long time already as a design and they absolutely kill game exploration, you don't appreciate the game anymore and simply speed your way to the next objective as fast as possible.

Even the new Doom's glory kills are in there where they don't belong and the same for the chainsaw, it kills the pace.
Old games, from the 90s and early 00s, were not just good because they were pioneering genres, they actually had excellent and sometimes masterful game design. Something which developers today don't understand a single bit and modders do.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well the footage is showing nothing but models and basic UE4 functionality, it is a start but a very long way from a fully built game.
And I highly doubt they will ever get there on the legal side, neither Disney or EA is known for kindness.

 

[Zelderahn]

I can't for the life of me understand why they don't just take their effort and put it in their own realized IP. The moment the Star Wars theme started playing I just rolled my eyes and filed it under 'lawyer chum'.. the sharks are on their way.

 

[Naldan]

That name though... Galaxy in Turmoil... Star Wars... Battle Among Large Celestial Bodies... Beef in Star Clusters...