Limbo of the Lost developers say they were unaware of Oblivion rip-off
by Justin McElroy 
{ Jun 25th 2008 at 10:00AM }
The developer said in a statement to Gamespot that "some alleged unauthorized copyrighted materials submitted by sources external to the development team have been found within the PC game Limbo of the Lost," and that if they "had been made aware earlier, [they] would of course have ceased development of the product and rectified the issue prior to the publication process."
So, it was "sources external to the development team," eh? Ever wonder why more people don't outsource game development to Dr. Fluke Hawkins? This is why.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
NATO_Duke @ Jun 25th 2008 10:07AM
Nobody is falling for it.
NATO_Duke @ Jun 25th 2008 10:10AM
My mistake. Someone is falling for it.
Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Jun 25th 2008 10:08AM
Well, considering I've seen models I've given away for free for learning purposes show up for sale on Turbosquid, there is SOME credence to this comment.
HOWEVER, this much content from this many different games? The mark of a true 3D artist is the amount of time it takes them to create quality content. Red Flags should have been raised when soo much content was coming through so quickly. Unless, of course, this is a lie.
Intentless @ Jun 25th 2008 10:14AM
Well a smart person using other people's work as their own would probably not submit it all right away and act like they are hard at work (aka world of warcraft as in that is what they are actually doing)
Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Jun 25th 2008 10:35AM
Well agreed on that point but then you get into the idea of art styles. A particular artist has their signatures all over the content they create in both workflow and UV usage. So even if the artists in question weren't dropping it all at once, the large differences in the content delivered both in texturing technique and art style itself should have been a HUGE flag.
After all, it wasn't just Oblivion that was stolen from. UV maps from Oblivion, I wager, look hugely different from the ones in Bloodrayne. I mean, hell, I was freelance on FS One and between all the artists that worked on it, you could TELL who made what vehicles/environments.
So once again, the outsourcing excuse is no excuse. I could see HOW it could happen, but this does send up red flags all over the place.
Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Jun 25th 2008 10:52AM
Okay, and now I officially throw down my "not buying it."
Limbo of the Lost is 100% static prerendered shots like FFVII or Resident Evil. In other words, the outsourced work in question didn't even need to be rerendered, just touched up in Photoshop. Considering THIS evidence...
http://lotl.wikia.com/wiki/Backgrounds
It's very clear that the desired imagery must have been gathered from the designers side of things to make the game in question. Static imagery + Lack of 3D engine + borrowed imagery having drastic artistic variation from each other = outsourcing excuse not valid.
We use items purchased from Turbosquid all the time but these are direct screengrabs tied into the design itself. Wow... fry em.
Zootittles @ Jun 25th 2008 10:16AM
That reminds me. We're due for a new MDK any time now...
comtar @ Jun 25th 2008 10:21AM
Dr Fluke Hawkins: "I made toast... DELICIOUS!"
PeterBeck @ Jun 25th 2008 10:44AM
You'd think the overall ugly and poorly done look of the game would have tipped off the people who were "unaware".
I mean, by comparison, Inquisitor of Zork has a more cutting edge look than Limbo, and that game is nearly 20 years old.
It'd be a shame if the wrong people get hung out to dry over this, but there will, and essentially must, be a sacrificial lamb for this fuck up.
bbear @ Jun 25th 2008 10:48AM
If you have ever worked for a real company you will know a lot of work is outsourced to people who work for contracting companies in countries like india. now these people don't officially work for your company, they are contractors, but if that is the case in a situation like this who should be held responsible? i would say it is the fault of the contracting company if this statement is true, however, surely this will do terrible damage to the developers name even if they are not to blame.
regardless i think the fact that the game has all these things stolen from other games makes it somewhat of a gem.
bm @ Jun 25th 2008 11:11AM
"If you have ever worked for a real company"
Haha right. Except this doesn't look like a "real" company at all. It's just three old guys who thought they could make easy money by fooling people.
It's not like they had any real coders either. The game was apparently "created" with some kind of adventure game kit, and the "programmer" basically had the support forums code the whole game for him.
That isn't the only example. Look up some stuff on the internets, and you'll quickly realize they were definitely fully aware of everything, they're lying through their teeth.
Ironically, one of the very few legit things about this game, the music, WAS outsourced. Imagine that.
Andrew @ Jun 25th 2008 11:05AM
The same story posted on Kotaku a few days ago. The only problem with this story is that one of the 3 main developers posted comments in a year or so ago on a dev blog about how he did all of the background and 3D rendering for the game. Opps, the internet never forgets.
therpham @ Jun 25th 2008 11:08AM
I say we should crown them the King of Limbo.
BIlly G @ Jun 25th 2008 11:43AM
My question is... who is responsible for making them aware of this situation "earlier" (during development)?
They say it as if they are victims of some great babysitting failure.
Spookysqueak @ Jun 25th 2008 11:56AM
I'm not even convinced this was a real game put out by a real publisher anymore, and not a bunch of forum posters trying to see how ridiculous they could make the "rip-offs." Why else would someone use assets from Hexxen?
Rosssas @ Jun 25th 2008 1:18PM
out of intrest, has anyone seen the ending to this game on youtube, its the next portal
Jamie @ Jun 25th 2008 1:35PM
I keep telling myself, "There's no way this story can get any funnier," and I keep getting proved wrong.
FSK405K @ Jun 25th 2008 2:23PM
Lol, chimpanzees typing Shakespeare.
alejo699 @ Jun 25th 2008 2:27PM
What I can't figure out is how anybody thought they'd get away with this. Were the contractors paid their entire fee up front, or what? And yes, you have to put it on the devs too -- they should be looking at the game during its development, and if a dev on an RPG doesn't recognize the TONS of content ripped off from other RPGs he is in the wrong line of work for sure.
But it all sure is damn funny.
LaughingTarget @ Jun 25th 2008 2:47PM
How do you not know the entire game is ripped off from some other game directly? They go back pretty far. I see some scenes from the Frankenstein game starring Tim Curry from back when Myst-style games were still being made en masse.
I could probably find the main character in some other game if I looked hard enough.
Jhongerkong @ Jun 25th 2008 7:22PM
Pfft. Thats like me raping a girl and claiming she was a masturbatory aid.