The LDSO site and forums will be moving to a new hosting company by the end of this month. At the same time, the site will also be receiving a bit of a facelift and upgrade. We'll be moving to newer forum software, and we'd also like to try turning LDSO into a fully functional site with a proper download section, chat room, etc.

Due to the move, you can expect downtime, or certain features of the site may stop working properly for a time. Eventually, the whole site will be down for a little while. But there's no need to worry. It will be back.

The TRON 2.0 Unofficial FAQ is already down, at the moment. Also, some of the files that this site uses are hosted at LDSO. So because of that, you'll notice that certain items are still missing when the page finishes loading. (The banner, the background, the post dates, etc.) These will be restored once the site move is completed.

The All Files section is unaffected, for the most part. And there are mirrors for every file. So no need to worry there, either.

I'm personally very much looking forward to the update. It's been talked about amongst the team for a long time, and now it's finally coming. :)

July 28th UPDATE: The LDSO site move has been completed, and all parts of the site, the TRON 2.0 Unofficial FAQ, and this site, have been restored. Please note that the LDSO message forum has moved to a new address, so you'll want to update your bookmarks.

It's going to be a while before the LDSO site receives its upgrades, but don't be surprised if you see further changes to the site in the near future.

Landry Walker, co-writer of the TRON: The Ghost in the Machine comic from SLG Publishing, has recently posted some preview images for the sixth and final issue of the series, which can be seen below.


July 30th UPDATE: One more preview image has been added.

Landry was also very generous, and once again sent an early PDF copy of issue #6 for me to read! I'm very grateful for this opportunity, to get an early peek at the ending of the series.

I don't want to spoil anything for those of you who have been following all of the issues, but I will leave you with a few little teasers.

• This issue (like issue #5 was, at 28 pages) is longer than the usual 24 pages of previous issues, weighing in at 32 pages.
• It starts with a recap of events from a previous issue, but puts a new twist on those events.
• Ma3a makes a cameo appearance.
• The issue ends with a quote from a famous philosopher, and a quote from a TRON film character.

I originally wasn't planning to post news about this, since the problem was short-lived and the site is well on its way to recovering. But — for example — the latest version of the Firefox browser, and Google, were (and could still be) warning visitors that TRON-Sector is a dangerous site to visit, and should be avoided.

It appears that spammers started attacking TRON-Sector roughly two weeks ago, with the intent of inserting malicious javascript code into various pages on the site. The site became infected and was very slow to load, as a result. Fortunately, though, if you didn't wait for a page to finish loading (which sometimes took a couple of minutes): the code wouldn't have a chance to execute.

But as of a few days ago, Auric (the site owner) eliminated the problem. It's safe to visit TRON-Sector again. You can ignore the warnings, which should soon disappear altogether. Though if you want to feel completely safe and assured while browsing the web: keep a good Anti-Virus program running at all times, and use a browser like Firefox or Opera that allows users to quickly flag malicious sites.

Auric is in the process of revamping the site entirely, in order to prevent such attacks from happening again in the future.

After changing their name from Buena Vista Games to Disney Interactive Studios a little over a year ago, the company has now changed its name to Disney Interactive Media Group.

The change is the result of Disney Interactive and Walt Disney Internet Group merging into one entity. WDIG handled online and cell phone games: such as the Virtual Magic Kingdom (now gone), Pirates of the Carribean Online, Club Penguin, and so on.

Merging the two divisions makes a lot of sense, and I'm surprised they were separate for so long. Apparently, Steve Wadsworth — who was president of WDIG — will now be in overall charge of the new entity. Perhaps some new blood at the head of the combined company, will mean less mediocre game titles coming from Disney Interactive. Who knows, maybe they'll even think about making another decent TRON game again. Gasp. Though that's unlikely to happen, until the TRON film sequel is released. (If it's released. The film still hasn't been officially greenlighted.)

Will this be the last reorganization shuffle, for Disney's gaming enterprises? This is the third time in the last five years. It will be interesting to watch and find out.

Amazon is now listing a trade paperback for the TRON: The Ghost in the Machine comic from SLG Publishing, which will be a collection of all 6 issues into one book.

The price is listed at $13.57 U.S. (discounted) and has an estimated release date of June 29th, 2008.

Considering that issue #6 of the comic is still not out yet, this means that the final issue should become available around the same time as the paperback. It would be very odd for the collected paperback to pre-empt the actual comic itself, and conclude the story first!

A trade paperback that collects all the issues of the TRON comic into one book is, in a sense, both good and bad news. It's good because a lot of people prefer having just one book instead of several separate ones. And for those who haven't already bought the comic, it's a great way to attract them to the title. But releasing a paperback around the same time as the final issue, means that sales of that last issue will probably plummet as a result. I guess I just find it an odd decision to release a paperback so soon. If the release date at Amazon is correct, that is.

I think Amazon may have jumped the gun and released this information earlier than SLG would have liked. In fact, the paperback isn't even listed on SLG's site yet. Usually, trade paperbacks are announced long after a comic has finished its run.

Thanks to DaveTRON for the news!

Landry Walker, co-writer of the SLG Publishing title TRON: The Ghost In the Machine along with Eric Jones, recently posted his thoughts on issue #6: which is the last issue and will bring the comic series to a close.

In his posting, he mentions that the writing on issue #6 is finished.  He also posts some small previews of artwork from this last issue.


The tone of the writing in the post is very bittersweet in nature. Rather than repeat quotes from it here, I encourage everyone to read it for themselves. It's clear that Landry and pretty much all of the people involved in producing this comic were passionate about TRON, and I for one am extremely glad that the comic was written by such people: who were doing it for that reason alone, and not as a quick cash-in attempt. The comic turned out far more adult and serious than I had expected, and once again I can't thank them enough for it.

I could never understand why it took this long for an original comic based on TRON to appear. With no news of a film sequel in sight for such a long time, the story of the original film was practically begging to be explored further in other mediums. We did receive the TRON 2.0 game; but also releasing a comic seemed like a no-brainer.

It's sad seeing the series coming to an end, but — short of a sequel — at least the fans' remaining wish was granted, and a TRON comic was made. Thank you SLG, and thank you Landry and Eric.

Jay Maynard — better known as TRON Guy — attended this year's (first) ROFLCon at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a convention celebrating internet memes.

Jean Nagy of CurrentTV attended, and did this short video "documentary" on Jay and his experiences: both at the con, as well as the past four years since he started wearing the costume.  Thankfully, the video is a fairly serious take on the subject matter, rather than a spoof. Thumbs up to the people involved for not taking the latter route.

Thanks to Joe Brilliant at CurrentTV for the info!

I thought about posting this yesterday, but felt it was best to wait until today rather than spoil the jokes . . . in case they fooled anybody, that is. :)


First we had TheReelTodd's front page article on TRON-Sector about a luddite trying to sue the character of TRON. Considering the number of frivolous lawsuits filed by people these days, it's not hard to believe this could actually happen.



Second, was Mr. Sinistar's announcement on the front page of the TRON Wiki about the TRON movie sequel script being leaked to the internet. This one is also somewhat believable, because all kinds of leaks about new films happen quite often. I'm not sure how long the article will remain on the Wiki site, so I took a screenshot of it. There's also a Digg link to this story.


Third, was TRON.dll's message posting about a Wii version of TRON 2.0: KILLER APP being released. Ah, if only it were so.



Finally, someone put up a phony TRON 2.0 server yesterday that showed it was full of players all day. Congratulations to whoever pulled this off. A very nice trick.


These are the TRON-related April Fool's jokes that I noticed for this year. If anyone else has any to share, please let us all know by leaving a comment.

April 16th, 2010 UPDATE: This article is out of date. The Killer App Mod v1.1 has been released.



Download it here

I'll post more info later! Meanwhile, enjoy the mod. :)

UPDATE: The KILLER APP Mod is temporarily unavailable for download, but will return soon.

April 16th, 2010 UPDATE: This article is out of date. The Killer App Mod v1.1 has been released.


That's if beta testing goes well! Apologies to all those that have been awaiting this mod's release, for all the delays. But the wait is almost over! Get ready to "rezz" into the Game Grid soon with the KILLER APP Mod!

See the preview I posted in a previous article, to find out more.

After what seems like an eternity, issue #5 of TRON: The Ghost in the Machine from SLG Publishing is finally being released on Wednesday March 19th, 2008 Wednesday March 26th, 2008.

UPDATE #1: Diamond Comics' upcoming releases list was in error, and TRON #5 was not released today (March 19th). After checking the list again, it's now scheduled for next week. Apologies for the error, but this is the first time I've ever seen Diamond make a mistake on the release date of a title.

Actually, it has been an eternity as far as most TRON fans are concerned. Issue #4 came out in July of last year. And it, too, had taken a very long time to be released. Still, I'm just glad a TRON comic is being published at all.

It's also been an eternity since I did my last review of the comic, with issue #3 back in January of last year.  The reason for that has been twofold.

1. I've been extremely busy for quite some time, and I think the lack of updates to this site (compared to the early days when the site was first created) has been evident.
   
   


2. With the large gap between issue #3 and issue #4: I didn't feel it would be fair to review that issue without reading the first three again, and having the storyline freshly imprinted on my memory. And now with issue #5, there's been another large gap. So when issue #5 finally comes out, I'm going to read all five issues back-to-back and then do reviews of #4 and #5 in quick succession.

Since SLG's license with Disney expires in August of this year, we can be certain that #6 — the final issue — will be out by then. So, at most, there will be a five month gap between #5 and #6. Hopefully by then I'll still remember all the story threads, since five months isn't as far off as seven (#4) or eight (#5) months.

UPDATE #2: Landry Walker (co-writer of the comic) was gracious enough to send me an advance copy of issue #5 in PDF form. Thank you, Landry!

All I'm going to say about this issue, is two things:

• This is the best issue since #1, by far. In my humble opinion, of course. Issue #5 is not to be missed. It starts resolving many of the questions that have been brought up in the story, so far.


• A certain familiar character makes their first appearance in the comic. Well, sort-of! I'll let you guess who. :)

The Syd Mead documentary Visual Futurist: The Art & Life of Syd Mead by director Joaquin Montalvan is screening on March 18th and 19th, at the historic Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, MI as part of a double bill with Blade Runner - The Final Cut.

At this time, the theater's schedule doesn't list the starting time for Blade Runner on those days, though Visual Futurist is apparently showing at 7:00 PM. The logical conclusion is that Blade Runner would screen right after, of course. Still, as soon as the schedule is updated I'll mention the confirmed times here. It appears that individual tickets can only be bought at the entrance shortly before the screening starts, and not online in advance.

Although the emphasis for this particular screening of Visual Futurist is clearly on its Blade Runner aspects, it nevertheless deals with Syd's entire career.  So, this naturally includes TRON as well. And at any rate, who doesn't love Blade Runner? I'd be shocked if anyone who is a fan of TRON, isn't also a fan of Blade Runner.

You can read my review of Visual Futurist: The Art & Life of Syd Mead in an earlier article, where I commented on the DVD release that's available for purchase.


The director has also posted a new trailer for the film, which can be seen below.

October 31st, 2012 UPDATE: This article is out of date. An updated version of User Error that self-installs and works in widescreen (after installing the Killer App Mod first), has been released.

After about two years in development, the follow-up to the original User Error expansion for TRON 2.0 on the PC — User Error 2 — is now available for download from ModDB.

Brought to you by LDSO team members Mor.Evil-1, Win3K, and zook_one: User Error 2 adds 10 additional levels to the original User Error by Meatsack, for a total of 16 levels. The file that you will download contains both the original User Error mission, as well as the new User Error 2 mission, all in one expansion.

The storyline of User Error 2 continues the adventures of Jeremy Powers from the original, where Jeremy entered the electronic world inside the computer in order to obtain a file that could potentially be very valuable. Jeremy is struggling with serious financial troubles, and sees gaining access to this file as a way to repay his debts by selling it to a former Russian agent named Karl. However, gathering all the parts of the file is proving to be more difficult than he had anticipated. In User Error 2, Jeremy presses on to finish his mission.


Here are some screenshots from the mod!




For more screenshots and information about User Error 2, visit its ModDB page or drop by the LDSO forum to let us know what you think of it! You can find instructions on how to use the mod in our forum. I'll also be posting a guide on how to use mods, soon. But until then, visit the forum if you have any problems.

The easiest way to use it, is to download and install REZ Handler: which will allow you to browse to the UserErrorRC2.rar file in the program and point and click the downloaded file to install it. Then a new Custom button should appear on the TRON 2.0 game launcher. Clicking that button will bring up a window with an empty checkbox beside the name of the mod. Place an X inside the checkbox and click OK. Then click Play and start a new Single Player game.

Don't forget that having the mod enabled will prevent you from playing Multiplayer online. You must disable the mod again by clicking the Custom button in the launcher, and removing the X from the checkbox.

According to a story posted on Ain't-it-Cool News, the planned TRON sequel is now due out in the Spring of 2011 rather than 2009 or 2010.

This story also backs up the earlier rumor about the sequel being released in 3-D.


So it's 2011 now? Yikes. I hope that means they're taking extra time to do it right. But then again, this is Disney we're talking about.

So when will they do a greenlight announcement? This stops just short of confirming for sure that the sequel is a go.

Thanks to DaveTRON for the news!

So, the other shoe finally drops. Discs of TRON for the Xbox 360's Live Arcade will be made available next week on Wednesday, February 13th according to a press release from Disney Interactive.


Why the releases of the original TRON Arcade and Discs of TRON were delayed for so long, is a really interesting question. But they are finally both here.

The release mentions the 80 score that the game received from the US version of the Official Xbox Magazine (OXM), but naturally neglects to mention the 20 score from the UK version of the magazine.

Considering the lukewarm reception to TRON Arcade by gamers and fans, I'll be watching closely to see if Discs of TRON fares any better.

UPDATE: The negative reviews and fan disappointment continues with Discs of TRON. Can't say I'm really surprised. It seemed pretty clear to me from the beginning that Disney Interactive was putting minimal effort into the Live Arcade titles.

My favorite quote that sums up how people feel about the TRON Live Arcade games comes from Shane Monroe over at Retrogaming Radio.

Discs of Tron sucks balls. No sale here. Disney Interactive can SUCK MY BALLS for dicking us over TWICE with Tron IP. - Shane Monroe

I truly laughed my ass off when I read that. I've been critical of DI in the past, but never quite used strong language like that. Thanks for telling it like it is, Shane. Very well put. :)

Since I'm tired of seeing the same few search query terms in hits to this site, over and over: I'm going to answer the three most popular questions that people who want to play TRON 2.0, have.

LAST UPDATED October 21st, 2012

Q: Does TRON 2.0: KILLER APP for the original Xbox work on the Xbox 360?

A: No. And it probably never will. Microsoft has not added the game to its 360 backward compatibility list, and they are actually ending their backward compatibility updates. So, in other words, since it's not on the list already . . . it never will be.

If you're really anxious to play the game, and don't want to invest in a used Xbox: do yourself a favor, and pick up TRON 2.0 for the PC instead. The Single Player experience on the PC version is far superior. Trust me: I own both versions, and I'm speaking from experience. When BVG and Climax ported the game to the Xbox, many detrimental changes and sacrifices were made. The graphics on the PC are better, there are virtually no bugs once it's patched up (unlike the Xbox version, which has some irritating bugs), and things have not been cut or downsized in order to cram it into the Xbox's more limited 64MB of memory.

TRON 2.0 is an older title now, so it's not exactly considered a demanding game any more. Any PC bought in the last 2-3 years should be able to play it at maximum settings, without breaking a sweat.


Q: Does TRON 2.0 work on Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8?

A: Yes, to all three. I can personally verify this: since I have run TRON 2.0 on the original release of Vista, Vista SP1, Vista SP2, Windows 7, Windows 7 SP1, and Windows 8. The game even works with the 64-bit versions, which can sometimes be more problematic with compatibility than the 32-bit versions of Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 that some people might still be using.

If you are having a problem getting the game to install or run in Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8, it's not directly the fault of the operating system. You probably need to update one or more of your drivers, or download all the Windows Update hotfixes. Also make sure that you are running the game in Administrator mode. The game has been tested and confirmed to work on both the original release of Vista, and Vista updated with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Service Pack 2 (SP2).

And on Windows 7, the game runs better than on Vista or even Windows XP. Yes, I am serious. Windows 7 is incredibly good and I recommend it. There is little reason to hesitate upgrading to Windows 7, like was the case with Vista. Games like TRON 2.0 run faster and smoother on Windows 7 than they ever did on Vista.

However, I personally do not recommend upgrading to Windows 8 at this time. When it comes to playing games, stick with Windows 7 for now. If I change my mind on this, I'll update this Mini-FAQ. Despite the recommendation, TRON 2.0 does run even smoother on Windows 8 than it does on Windows 7. Believe it or not.

One bit of advice I can give if you're having any difficulty, is to try using the Unofficial Patch instead of the Official one. And this goes for all versions of Windows. Sometimes, in rare cases, the Official Patch won't install properly.


Q: Does TRON 2.0 support widescreen?

A: Not properly, no. That is not to say that the game won't work at all at higher widescreen resolutions, of course. It's just that if you run the game on a widescreen monitor, the picture will become distorted. TRON 2.0 only properly supports resolutions with a 4:3 aspect ratio, while widescreen displays use a 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratio.

However, the TRON 2.0: KILLER APP Mod v1.1 solves this problem. One of the features in this release of the mod, is proper widescreen support in the game. Here is a video trailer demonstrating widescreen support at 1280x720 resolution with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

As I was visiting some of my favorite web sites today, you can imagine how unexpectedly — and pleasantly — surprised I was when I discovered that Rock, Paper, Shotgun had an article remembering TRON 2.0.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun is a site that specializes in news and discussion about PC games. That they'd remember, or even mention, TRON 2.0 in a million years is quite heartwarming to yours truly. The author of the article, Jim Rossignol, basically republished a review he did of the game for PC Gamer UK, back when the game was released. But he tweaked and updated it, to reflect upon the game today.

The review is positive, overall. He cites many of the weaknesses of the game, which I admit are there and should be taken into consideration. But he also rightly points out that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, to borrow an old cliché.

If you haven't seen or tried the game, and would like to: there is a demo of TRON 2.0 that has a couple of Single Player and Multiplayer levels from the full game. It works on just about all versions of Windows: 98, Me, 2000, XP, and even Vista. Naturally, the full game also works on all these versions of Windows. But the Multiplayer component of the demo isn't compatible with the full version of the game, unfortunately.

According to Surfer Girl, the upcoming TRON sequel is apparently going to be released in     3-D. As in, the "you will be wearing 3-D glasses and the film will leap off the screen", type of 3-D. This news is also suggesting that TRON will likely be re-released in theaters, shortly before the new film premieres.

Who is Surfer Girl? That's a good question. Apparently, nobody really knows. But "she" seems to be an insider in the entertainment business. She's posted many rumors about films and video games, and the majority of them have come true.

As crazy and far-fetched as this news may sound, there may be a grain of truth to it. It's a known fact that George Lucas wants to re-release the Star Wars films in 3-D, theatrically. The technique for making 3-D films has improved dramatically, in the last decade or so. Lucas apparently had a short test segment done for Star Wars a while back, and people were blown away by it.

Also, Disney has announced plans to theatrically re-release Toy Story 1 and 2 in 3-D right before Toy Story 3 premieres (also in 3-D).

I personally think that redoing films in 3-D is gimmicky, and serves solely as a cash grab by film studios. It's true that certain films like Star Wars may benefit from it. But Toy Story? Come on. And I'm not really sure that a TRON sequel would benefit from this treatment, either.

No matter what anyone may think of this news, what's most interesting about it is that it implies the TRON sequel is a definite go. So this should mean we'll be hearing a "greenlighted" announcement soon?

Thanks to Steve for the news!

The Starz Entertainment network has been airing the pilot episode — for a potential new series — called Hollywood Goes Gaming, in repeats for the last couple of months.

Among the people interviewed, is TRON Director Steven Lisberger. In fact, he is apparently the first person interviewed in the episode.

I have not watched the show, because I don't receive Starz. But according to a couple of reviews here and here, Lisberger speaks at length about how well the TRON arcade games did compared to the film. And about how they pioneered the idea of the video game tie-in to go with a Hollywood motion picture.

He also discusses, again, how TRON was denied an Academy award for special effects because — at the time — the Academy members felt he had "cheated" by using computer graphics. Which, as one of the reviews I linked to states, is a laughable notion today.

If you receive Starz in your channel line-up, you can catch this hour-long episode again on Thursday January 24th, 2008 starting at 10:50 PM Eastern Time on Starz Edge (East).

Thanks to tron_fanfare for the tip.

The release of TRON Arcade and Discs of TRON on the Xbox 360's Live Arcade is finally imminent, after an extremely long delay and a lot of guessing games about release dates. But it's not entirely clear to me if Discs of TRON is being released together with TRON Arcade at the same time. It would appear the releases are separate, going by the post on Major Nelson's site.

If this is correct, then each should cost 400 Microsoft Points when released. Which comes to about $10 U.S. for both.

Why the games have been delayed for so long — after their original announcement last year in May — is an open question. In this forum post, a representative from Disney Interactive Studios responded to a customer and claimed that they were "currently working on" Discs of TRON, as of this past December. Why they still needed to "work" on the game, considering the completed version had already been reviewed last year in the July/August timeframe . . . I'd really like to know.

Sounds like a bullshit excuse to me. Unless, perhaps, it had something to do with the fact that OXM UK slammed both games. Maybe DI decided to spend a bit more time polishing the games for release? Nah, this is BVG DI we're talking about.

Whatever the reason, for those of you who own a 360 and have Xbox Live: enjoy the games. I have no intention of purchasing a 360. If I'm desperate for an old-school TRON fix, I can always play the games on MAME. So for those of you who check out the games . . . let me know how good (or bad) they are. Was OXM UK justified, when they gave these games the thumbs-down?

UPDATE #1: Team Xbox has posted their review, giving TRON Arcade a score of 6.8. Reactions from fans are decidedly mixed so far: as can be seen here, here, and here. Most cite the game as having inaccurate sound, poor control, and flaky multiplayer that doesn't work very well.

UPDATE #2: Shane Monroe of RetroGaming Radio has started a petition, in the hope of getting Disney Interactive to fix the problems with TRON Arcade. Does any of this seem familiar to you?

UPDATE #3: Several more reviews of TRON Arcade have appeared at Metacritic. The reviews are almost uniformly negative. According to Major Nelson's site, TRON Arcade debuted with sales in the #3 spot and dropped to #4 in the following week. Also, Metacritic lists Discs of TRON with a release date of June 1st, 2008 right now. Looks like the second TRON title is not coming any time soon.