I had no idea G4 made a special about TRON 2.0. Apparently it might only have been shown at GDC 2004, and not aired on G4TV, so that's why I wasn't aware of it until now.

It's a really great retrospective on both TRON and the making of TRON 2.0.

It also basically confirms a rumor I'd heard, as to why TRON 2.0 was delayed from early 2003 to August 2003.

Thanks to ENunn on YouTube for sharing this!

For the 18th Anniversary of TRON 2.0 (released August 26, 2003 in North America) I responded to a challenge from the Lead Programmer of TRON 2.0 (when he was at Monolith Productions), Kevin Lambert.

Time stamps of note:

• 00:02 - TRON 2.0 Lead Programmer Kevin Lambert's TRON Maze Challenge
• 00:47 - Response
• 01:29 - A trace of this idea left in the game
• 01:39 - Light Cycle improvements in Killer App Mod v1.2

If you want to see Killer App Mod v1.2 progress updates between video uploads to the LDSO YouTube channel, visit here:

https://twitter.com/i/events/1106632744799535105


Kevin asked if anyone could add a concept that was left out of the final game: Placing the player in a claustrophobic Light Cycle maze like the one seen in the original TRON film, with prompts appearing to let the player know when to turn (somewhat like how the game Dragon's Lair prompted the player when to move).

A fourth Killer App Mod v1.2 Single Player fixes trailer is still forthcoming. Consider this to be a "Preview Trailer 10.5". 🙂

Killer App Mod v1.2 will now include what's needed so you can make your own custom maps/levels to prompt the player to turn when riding a Light Cycle. And we'll most likely end up using this concept in User Error 3, LDSO's upcoming follow-up to the previous User Error 1 and 2 Single Player expansions.


https://twitter.com/kevinlambert/status/1431076108301049856
And Kevin did reply to me on Twitter! He was pleased with the response to his challenge to do a Light Cycle "TRON Maze" in TRON 2.0. 😊

Light Cycle mazes with "turn prompts" were something meant to be in the final game, but the TRON 2.0 development team at Monolith Productions didn't have enough time to put them in.

P.S. I do plan to ask Kevin about some things, but I want to give him a bit of space and not come across as too pushy or demanding. So please don't anyone bother him too much, or else he might get annoyed and it will end up doing more harm than good. I believe he works for Microsoft now, so he's probably super busy a lot of the time.

August 31st, 2021 UPDATE:

https://twitter.com/MonolithDev/status/1432767099592601602
Monolith retweeted the TRON Maze challenge response video. Honored that they thought it was worth sharing on their Twitter account! 😃