Guest Flyboy Report post Posted May 24, 2003 At E3 2003, we managed to sit in for a demonstration of The Movies, Lionhead's upcoming strategy game. The Movies will let you play as the owner of a movie studio over a period of about 100 years, from 1900 until the present day. You'll begin by making black-and-white films, though over the course of your 100-year career, you'll research such groundbreaking technologies as boom microphones and color film. Though we were able to see only a temporary, "placeholder" version of the game's interface, Lionhead designer Adrian Moore assured us that the developer wishes to make playing The Movies as simple as possible. In the menu screen we saw, Moore was able to plan a movie from a single menu, choosing the genre (horror, in this case), the actors (Bruce Campbell, Drew Barrymore, and Vincent Price as "the monster"), and the writing allotment. Coming up with a good script will require a lot of time and effort from your team of writers, represented by a five-star meter that gradually fills up as you wait. However, waiting as long as possible to let your team put together a five-star script will cost you a lot of money, since you'll be continuously paying your writers and your actors and other staffers in the meantime. In the demonstration, Moore chose to rush the script by interrupting his writers at about a star and a half, which resulted in the perfect script...for a cheesy B movie. Moore went on to demonstrate how a movie is put together by scrolling about the colorful 3D movie set, around which actors, cameramen, gofers, and other paid members of staff milled about. As each member of staff walked about the lot, an icon consisting of a small ring of wadded-up dollar bills would periodically float up from the heads of each member of staff. According to Moore, this icon represented how much money you'll pay each staff member--sought-after starlets like Ms. Barrymore will cost you a great deal more money to hire and will send money icons flying through the air (and out of your pocket) in rapid succession. As such, Moore quickly set about building a set for the movie, including the exterior of a shack in the woods, the interior of the shack, and the basement of the shack. While shopping around for his own movie set, Moore happened to pass the camera by another set, at which another director was filming a Western that showed two cowboys having a fistfight. Moore took this scene as an opportunity to show how The Movies will use a simple, intuitive slider bar to help you direct most of your scenes. For instance, in a fight scene, you'll be able to slide your bar all the way to the left, which will cause your actors to feebly slap at each other and occasionally step on each other's toes, while sliding the bar further to the right will cause them to beat each other with their fists. On the highest setting, one of your actors will strangle the other and then kick the strangled actor while he's down. Moore then went back to his own set to begin filming his movie, starting with a romantic interlude between Mr. Campbell and Ms. Barrymore. Just like fistfights, romantic scenes will have a slider that will let you, depending on what sort of movie you'd like to make, order your actors to shyly flirt with each other, or to leap into each other's arms and embrace passionately. As Moore explained, you'll be making these movies throughout the 20th century, and in the early part of your career, a movie with explicit violence or sexual themes will fail miserably because of the conservative values of that era. However, as a filmmaker, you'll want to constantly push the boundaries of what can and can't be shown on film, such as the world's first onscreen kiss. Once you're done filming your movie, you'll be able to use in-game tools (which will let you import your own voice and music into the game) to make a custom trailer for your film. According to Moore, Lionhead plans to hold regular contests that will let you submit your own trailer to the game's official Web site to compete with other armchair filmmakers' works. This unusual strategy game will be released sometime next year. I found the whole idea pretty damn cool. This could be a great game if done right. Some questions bug me, though. Like are the actors/actress preset or can I type a name? And if it DOES work like the latter, if I type in Mandy Moore instead of Julia Roberts for my main lady will Moore be recognized? Tons of questions boggle the mind, but I hope this turns out to be a good game. It's on PC (and multi-consoles), so I will download it when it comes out and if I like it that much I'll buy it. Too many damn good games coming out in the late 2003/2004 year. Too much money to spend, but a game I know I HAVE to get is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for PC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Mr. X Report post Posted May 24, 2003 If you like games based on movies you should try Hollywood Mogul. It was done using the same program as EWR but the graphics are much better then EWRs. Here's the link to the official website. Hollywood Mogul Official Website Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest godthedog Report post Posted May 24, 2003 this sounds pretty damn awesome. even cooler would be if they had an indie version of it, where you had to scout for locations & cast people you find on the street, & run from the cops cause you can't afford a permit, & take the movie to festivals and shit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest kkktookmybabyaway Report post Posted May 24, 2003 I wonder if they will include the Red Scare era. It'd be funny to see your top actor's career get shot down because it turns out he's a commie... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Flyboy Report post Posted May 24, 2003 If you like games based on movies you should try Hollywood Mogul. It was done using the same program as EWR but the graphics are much better then EWRs. Here's the link to the official website. Hollywood Mogul Official Website That game OWNS. Too bad I can't find a full version anywhere... I'm just not a trial guy man. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TwiztidKing Report post Posted May 24, 2003 I heard hollywood moqul was compleate trash. Now im wishing i had bought it when I had the chance, DAMN YOU INTERNET with your missleading reviews Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Flyboy Report post Posted May 24, 2003 I heard hollywood moqul was compleate trash. Now im wishing i had bought it when I had the chance, DAMN YOU INTERNET with your missleading reviews Well, that is just my opinion. Take it for what it's worth ($100). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TwiztidKing Report post Posted May 24, 2003 I heard hollywood moqul was compleate trash. Now im wishing i had bought it when I had the chance, DAMN YOU INTERNET with your missleading reviews Well, that is just my opinion. Take it for what it's worth ($100). OK! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conspiracy_Victim 0 Report post Posted May 24, 2003 Bruce friggin' Campbell baby! It's going on my "To Buy" list. Plus I want to try building a Troma type studio. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TwiztidKing Report post Posted May 24, 2003 Hell yea, Bruce Campbell is a beast! So are Troma Movies, execpt for sergent kubuki man; I dident like that one as much as the others Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ArkhamGlobe Report post Posted May 24, 2003 Sounds awesome, this I'll have to get when it's released. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conspiracy_Victim 0 Report post Posted May 25, 2003 Hell yea, Bruce Campbell is a beast! So are Troma Movies, execpt for sergent kubuki man; I dident like that one as much as the others I gotta say that if you like Troma Studios, get your hands on a copy of Troma's Cannibal: The Musical on DVD. It's Trey Parker and Matt Stone's first movie, done when they were still in college and basically shot over a spring break. The movie is about what you'd expect but the commentary track is quite possibly the greatest extra on any DVD. It's basically Parker, Stone, Dian Bachar (the little guy in BasketBall and the voice of Sexual Harrassment Panda I believe in South Park), and a few of the other actors sitting around in 2000 or so watching this movie and getting drunk. As he gets more drunk, Parker's recollections of his freshly ex-girlfriend (from the movie) get funnier and funnier. Highly recommended. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest El Satanico Report post Posted May 25, 2003 Bruce Campbell, Drew Barrymoore and Vincent by god Price in a horror movie. Good dark lord...I must see that movie. Is this going to be on PS2 or just PC? If it's on PS2 this is a definate rental for me. If I like what I see from renting it, I'm buying it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Flyboy Report post Posted May 25, 2003 Is this going to be on PS2 or just PC? If it's on PS2 this is a definate rental for me. If I like what I see from renting it, I'm buying it. All consoles and PC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Blue Bacchus Report post Posted June 1, 2003 Flyboy, you were right about Hollywood Mogul... geez what a blast! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Flyboy Report post Posted June 1, 2003 Flyboy, you were right about Hollywood Mogul... geez what a blast! Indeed, it does. And if I wasn't so cheap (or underage) I would buy it and download patches that puts REAL actors and REAL directors into the game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
