LucasArts Posters: The Revenge

[RobMegone]

@LaserschwertHere is a scan of my Kixx box for Zak.

 

I tried to put some weight into the box lid to flatten it out so it would scan without being blurry. I also covered it in dark material. Let me know if it's still problematic and I can re-scan.

 

I also re-scanned the manual from this edition.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iRSobEa75Fi5vfiLxfk8u3T41OQ8gdU2?usp=sharing

[RobMegone]

I just scanned the Zak cover from the front of CGW magazine. Hope it's good enough. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o7ahoAReNcKbpj1KBjHUk2aQJcxQCU8Z/view?usp=sharing

[Laserschwert]

Thanks for both scans, I'll see if I can put the to good use. Unfortunately your scanner seems to have a few problems:

 

Besides a bit of oversharpening and somewhat high contrast, it seems to have trouble keeping a constant speed (which is why the halftone dots alternate between being stretched and compressed, forming a wavy pattern), plus it has some stitching artifacts, which look like skipped lines or columns. However, it's still good to have these scans!

[RobMegone]

Oh no! I'll get these re-scanned as soon as I find someone with a scanner I can use. 

[ThunderPeel2001]

On 11/9/2021 at 2:01 PM, Laserschwert said:

Nope. I guess this is too much of a legal gray area for them to care - after all, I can't claim any copyright on these. And Tim hating my guts over these posters probably doesn't help either. This makes it all the more amazing how fair and gratefully Limited Run Games handled the situation.

 

Huh?! Why would Tim hate you for these posters?

[Rum Rogers]

1 hour ago, ThunderPeel2001 said:

 

Huh?! Why would Tim hate you for these posters?

He is absolutely against the idea of removing the names of people who worked hard on those games. Basically Tim doesn't want text-free poster versions.

[Laserschwert]

Yeah, he called me a jerk for removing the names which they had to fight so hard for to get on the cover in the first place. He didn't seem to care that this project is actually meant to celebrate the work of the artists creating the cover artworks.

[Lagomorph01]

Sounds like mr. Shafer has an ego problem. He should be grateful to have such an active community 20-30 years after the fact, especially with avid contributors like Laserschwert.

That way, he can be proud of the fact that he got the names on the boxes ánd that the fans keep his legacy alive.

[Jake]

I’d always assumed that was in regards to versions of the box that had just the logo and none of the credits, as opposed to a purely clean painting that didn’t present as a box at all.

[Laserschwert]

4 hours ago, Jake said:

I’d always assumed that was in regards to versions of the box that had just the logo and none of the credits, as opposed to a purely clean painting that didn’t present as a box at all.

Since the concept of the project is to turn game boxes into posters, I don't think the results should necessarily fulfill the same standards as boxes on display in a store, including blurbs or credits.

 

Granted, by now I've added versions of the posters including credits to several of the games, but it's still quite pedantic to criticise the project for that, without having anything positive to say about it at all.

 

Buy hey, that comment was made years ago, so why bother.

[Laserschwert]

I've updated the Rebel Assault 2 poster with a new version, built from the ground up by scanning the official promo poster (thanks again to @Jake for that one!) and filling the rest with scans by @ATMcashpoint and myself).

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always, a massive upgrade in quality. Enjoy!

Edited December 19, 2021 by Laserschwert

[Jake]

Glad that poster actually did look nicer and yield an improvement!

[Sebastian.Zissou]

On 12/6/2021 at 8:43 PM, ThunderPeel2001 said:

 

Huh?! Why would Tim hate you for these posters?

 

Almost 13 years ago: https://www.doublefine.com/news/winners-write-the-history-books-germans-make-the-posters

 

And now -oh, the hypocrisy-, they're using two of his restaurations (without asking) in their own "history" book...

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Sebastian.Zissou

[Thrik]

That post comes across as a joke to me. He’s both pointing out the beautiful versions with names removed while also humorously lamenting that they had to convince people to put their names on there.

 

There might be more to it beyond that post I’m unaware of, but if that’s all we’re talking about I really wouldn’t take it seriously.

[Laserschwert]

1 hour ago, Thrik said:

There might be more to it beyond that post I’m unaware of, but if that’s all we’re talking about I really wouldn’t take it seriously.

He got more specific in a forum post on the (now gone) Double Fine forums.

 

Edit: Found it on archive.org. And reading the comments now, I think I took them more personal back then, as they don't read that bad now that I see them again.
 

Quote

I really like what you've started with your LucasArts posters project. But I have mixed feelings about it. Can I ask you what was behind the decision to remove the creators' names from the box art? We had to fight management for months each time a game came out to make sure we were properly credited. Now it's sad to see they've been removed once again.

Quote

I think it's great to showcase and isolate the work of those talented cover artists, and a version with just the art by itself makes some sense. But the version that includes the logo for the game but omit's the creator's name is wrong, in my opinion, and sad to see after all the trouble we went through.

 

He still called me a jerk in some other comment though 😄

Edited January 4, 2022 by Laserschwert

[Lagomorph01]

I can imagine you taking it personally back then, (I think I would too if one of my heroes was critical of my work), but it does seem he likes that you went through the effort and endorses the idea, even though he doesn’t like one version of it.

Don’t know where the jerk calling came from though. I’d have to see that in context to figure it out.

[Thrik]

Ah, yeah it’s clear from those posts it was less a casual observation and more something he was actually saddened by.

 

Maybe to these guys it’s like photoshopping an actor’s face out of a movie poster or something because they’re deemed surplus to requirements. It wouldn’t be my stance but I can sort of see where he might be coming from.

 

But yes haha, calling you a jerk doesn’t sound so good, although could still just be poking fun while discussing a more earnest underlying point. Context needed I suppose.

 

I hate to come across like an apologist by the way, it’s just because it seems so out of character and these sorts of sentiments can stick — which is fine as long as people see both sides. 😅

[Laserschwert]

The weird thing is, that not many boxes DID actually have the developers' names on them. I think MI1, MI2, Grim, Full Throttle and DOTT are the only ones (and a few Star Wars games).

Edited January 4, 2022 by Laserschwert

[Thrik]

Well, I suppose those would be the ones Tim cares about! 😂

[TimeGentleman]

I have to say, I'd be really surprised if Tim called you a jerk on the forums. Even if he thought it privately, it's not the tone he took on the forums at all. I suspect you may have heightened that in your memory as well...

[Laserschwert]

8 hours ago, TimeGentleman said:

I have to say, I'd be really surprised if Tim called you a jerk on the forums. Even if he thought it privately, it's not the tone he took on the forums at all. I suspect you may have heightened that in your memory as well...

 

You're right, it was on Twitter:

 

[TimeGentleman]

Ah, okay. Yikes. I'm still a little surprised that he phrased it like that on a public site. I guess he really must have been upset by it. Weird that he promoted the posters in that news post 11 days earlier though, even if he did comment about the names there too - it makes me wonder if this is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek even though it really doesn't read like that. Maybe after that tweet he went and looked again and saw that you also had the versions with no titles at all, and that made him happier about the whole thing, if still conflicted about the title-but-no-name versions.

[Laserschwert]

He made the comments in the thread two days after the Twitter post, so maybe he at least had a slight change of heart. And getting a (mostly positive) blog post by him is obviously very flattering. The jerk comment can only be meant tongue-in-cheek... guess in my memory it was much more severe (plus I obviously dimmed out all the positive things he had to say).

Edited January 5, 2022 by Laserschwert

[Thrik]

The use of the exclamation mark in the tweet to me implies an element of hyperbole, like a feigned outrage sort of thing.

 

I think as you say he was a little bummed out by it, but the seemingly hostile response was intended to be taken humorously.

 

I might be wrong of course! The only sure way is to just ask Tim if he thinks you’re a bastard or not. But I lean towards jesting.

[Laserschwert]

Yesterday I posted this:

We'll see if he reacts to that.