The Movies

The Movies is a computer game developed by Lionhead Studios, which was released for the PC on 10 November 2005. It is distributed by Activision. Due to the lower-than- expected sales of the PC version the development of games console versions has been discontinued. On 9 June 2006, while the add -on stunts & special effects appeared. This can be the movies much more individual design and install a lot of stunts and special effects.

Aim of the game

Aim of the game is to build a movie studio and produce successful films. Here, the player is both director of the films as well as director of the film studios in personal union. The game starts here in the 1920s and ends in 2000 with respect to the exploration of new technologies. An endless game is away possible even beyond the year 2000.

In addition to the " campaign mode " is also a " sandbox mode " in which you can make movies without restrictions playful. Here, you can individually set the year in which you want to start and play freely and develop.

My Movies

Boasting a classic business simulation with elements of The Sims, the core of the game is a tool for creating your own movies: The player may choose from a large number of ready- scripted scenes, performers, costumes or scenery, and combine them as you wish. The game rated this compilation and letting it flow into the Economic Partnership of the game. In addition, you can upload your self-made movies on an online platform. The films can then be viewed and evaluated by others. This gives money in a virtual currency for which you can download new sets and items for the game. Your uniqueness will get these films in that players can integrate their own background images and music files. The manufacturer also promises must be delivered adequate number of graphics.

The basic principle here is similar to that of an editing software for video films: a choice between the respective sets available and a variety of possible scenes. These scenes can also be influenced by a few sliders and as a sad place of a cheerful end have. These sets can also be equipped with props, or be affected by other lighting or effects on. In the selected scenes possible roles are represented by wooden dolls: by depositing a symbol of an actor, the player can decide what role he wants to fill with what character. The game distinguishes between primary, secondary and extras roles, the performer must all be hired in the Economic Partnership of the game.

If the player has made ​​his choice of scenes and actors, the script can be produced later in the game: The Movies visualize this process by crew, director, actors and other staff involved proceed to the appropriate scenes and the scenes set up individually, played and photographed be.

If this process is completed, the film will be released, the game evaluates the compilation and the player may admire his work with the state of the ( in the game) current technology: films of the early to mid-20th century are a silent movie with crackling black and white optics shown. The film thus increases income and prestige of the actor and the studio and optionally honored at a regularly scheduled award.

Control

The game is characterized by an intuitive user interface that allows the player to all regular activities, such as the setting of actors, casting of film crews or the marketing of movies by dragging and dropping the persons or symbols in the premises of the matching, built on the backlot to carry out building. It guides have always the currently most meaningful action. Because building and techniques are available only during the game, the game also limits the range of options, so the player learns step by step to know all the important elements.

A timeline announces upcoming world events graphically; the game is in sympathy with real events, thus increasing the first circumnavigation of the globe in an airplane in the short term the popularity of the genre Sci- Fi from the audience.

As another medium The Movies uses a fictitious radio host who comments from the off events of the gameplay or a short comic insert provides.

Star Maker

The Movies includes an external tool, which you can download on the official website of the game, with what can be the facial features of a star individually. The possibilities are very extensive. The further design its own Stars is then within the main game, in which the star different clothing can be created.

Technology

The Movies is based on a specially developed by Lionhead Studios 3D engine. The optimized to performance architecture makes it possible to play The Movies on computers with weaker hardware equipment.

Awards

BAVGA 2006 - " Best Simulation"

Reviews

• Gamestar 85/100

Stunts & Effects ( Add-on)

The Movies: Stunts & Effects is an extension, also made ​​by Lionhead. With the add-on the player is now possible to make the actors thicker / thinner and optically younger / older. In addition, 15 new sets, new costumes and 58 two mini sets in the form of a major city included. In addition, the effects were fundamentally renewed and replaced by a large number of new particle effects and extended. So car stunts or blasting of glass are now possible. For this, there is now also the character of Stuntman, which can stand in for the actors, so as not to jeopardize the production. In addition, the mode " Free Camera" was integrated, which allows itself to lend a hand and show the camera shots and angles as desired.

The Movies Online

The Movies Online ( abbreviated TMO) was an internet platform of Lionhead on which each studio owner was able to publish his films. On the Internet platform provided by Lionhead Studios available at any studio owner could publish his twisted with the movies ( machinima ) and watch other movies and review. Until the closure of more than 120,000 films were uploaded to The Movies Online. There was a common page for The- Movies - players from around the world, the site itself was in English. At first was the memory per studio 25 MB, just before the release of the add -ons The Movies: Stunts and special effects it was increased to 35 MB and owner of the extension even get 50 MB, which corresponds to about 50 minutes of film.

On November 7, 2005 a day before the release of The Movies in the U.S., Lionhead announced that The Movies community site was launched. On this page, it should be the The Movies fans possible to publish the rotated with the game movies, watch them and receive feedback and to see climb the charts to the top.

First statistics, there were on 14 November, with the problems with the Fakevotern were addressed. The first Hot Picks were presented on 18 November of the same year. On 5 December 2008, three years after the release of the game, Lionhead made ​​the operation of the platform one.

Chart system and Awards for Movies

The charts were calculated by the number of "reviews", the number of contracts awarded in the review stars and days since the upload. In a review stars could be awarded 1 star was the minimum, 5 stars had the highest rating. The number of reviews was more relevant than the number of assigned stars. Thus it happened that very poor and short films with worse average rating landed very near the top of the charts, because they had many reviews. Through this system, however, there was another problem ( engl. fake fake = false, invented ) the so-called " Fakevoter ", players who have not upload any movies, and therefore do not have a studio and other films give one star to the respective film to convey the charts down.

The Hall Of Fame awarded at the end of each month awards for the chart positions of all the movies for the best films of every genre and for the best films that were shot with the Expansion Pack. Awards each received the first three places in each category. The Hall of Fame was introduced in the expansion pack.

The Hot Picks were excellent films that were chosen by the individual fansites. For this, the best films were nominated by the community members, of whom later 2 to 4 films on Hot Pick been and were then shown on the home page of TMO. Hot Picks were always chosen at regular intervals, usually 1 or 2 weeks.

Virtual Credits (VCs )

The VCs were virtual cash on The Movies Online. For each evaluation, which he received for his own films, the studio owner, 200 VCs posted to its account. This could be new game content such as sets and costumes buy and since the appearance of the add -ons Stunts & Effects could with the VCs other players for mods, the setting of the movies and things like that are paid. Since the add-on was for 1000 VCs also posters in the dimensions 225 × 150 pixels in JPG, GIF and PNG are uploaded, which were later shown on the homepage and were linked. It could always be active per studio only a poster. If you wanted to switch to another poster, so you had to first disable the active posters or wait until it was deactivated automatically after a week.