Han Solo cleaning up the SCUMM of the universe

"I'm selling these fine leather space jackets"

You’ll have to excuse me while I restrain my wife and one of my friends over this one, they probably couldn’t be more excited … even if Jeff Goldbum was involved.

So an intrepid programmer called Stacy Davidson has begun a fan project called Han Solo Adventures. We’re talking all the classic 2D adventure action of a SCUMM adventure game, blended with the antics of everyone’s favourite nerf-herder Han Solo. Here’s a snippet from the game’s FAQ section:

If you enjoyed Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and you are at heart a Star Wars fan, then do I have a treat for you. This game was born out of my frustration that LucasArts seemed to throw everything but the kitchen sink into their adventure game lineup, with the exception of their flagship property: Star Wars. As awesome as Fate of Atlantis was, it always rubbed salt into the wound for me. I felt like, “OK, Indy’s awesome… now where’s Han?!?” For me, that’s what it’s all about, so if I am going to properly bring one of my life dreams into reality, I want it to look and feel as authentic as possible. The idea is, you just suspend disbelief and play the game as if it’s that one, long lost LucasArts adventure title you never got around to playing.

-Stacy, we love you (but of course, “you know”)

Has anyone ever heard of nobler sentiments? I know I haven’t in a long while. Now while I’m actually really excited to see where this project could be leading, you’ve got to be wary with things like this (especially when they begin gaining publicity!). LucasArts as a whole has never looked too favourably on people touching their stuff, even if it’s for free distribution (or maybe even because it’s for free distribution!). I remember back when I used to cover the Half-Life/Quake modding community, there were bundles and bundles of Star Wars mods that used to have cease-and-desist notices served to them.

With any luck, hopefully Uncle George will view this little project favourably, and we can all look forward to giving it a go. Maybe given that Ron Gilbert seems to have given the project some love, Stacy can look forward to a little leniency from the legal departments.

Either way, head on over to the game’s home page and show a little support. There’s even a video showing Han shooting first … this time in SCUMM format!