The Movies ..... The Thread ..... The Game

[heybrad]

I played for about 3 hours yesterday, going through the tutorial and then the Campaign. I'm enjoying it so far. I've hovered around being the 3rd ranked studio, although most of my movies reside at the bottom of the charts. I'm more of a movie factory at this point, just pumping them out.

I did get the Big Cheese award and I have a director that has moved into the Top 5 talent (Hannah Berry).

I'm hoping to get more creative tonight.

[Mustang]

I might restart my game... I'm only into 1936 and all it seems I'm doing is trying to de-stress my stars...

[Critch]

It might be a bit quick for a final decision, but after 15 years (game time, obviously) I am distinctly underwhelmed.

[cody8200]

Originally Posted by Critch

It might be a bit quick for a final decision, but after 15 years (game time, obviously) I am distinctly underwhelmed.

It gets a lot better once you have technology and can do more. I would suggest trying to hang in there or using the cheat from page 4 to unlock everything.

[Critch]

I've got into the mid-30's, so the technologies are coming thick and fast now, maybe even too fast. I'm finding it hard keeping up with all the packs that become available.

Some nice things, it can be fun to watch at times, but I feel like I'm just churning out movie after movie, all the same standard, all being ok reviewed (although all mentioning how boring my star is as her novelty has worn off, anything I can do to get that back?) and dealing with my alcoholic director who likes to dress up as a cowboy. I'm going to either carry on or restart tonight and see how it goes.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Critch

(although all mentioning how boring my star is as her novelty has worn off, anything I can do to get that back?)

I used to get this for my #1 star. I used to always put him in comedies, though. I started mixing it up, putting him in romances and even a sci-fi flick. The sci-fi flick actually debuted at #2, even though he had no exp. with sci-fi films. He stopped getting the novelty has worn off review, but since films took longer to film and I started "rotating him out", he was being seen less and that might have helped as well.

Now that I got the hang of the game, I plan on starting over soon. Also, for those having trouble keeping their stars and actors in check, the vertical bar you see on their attribute for various things is their threshold, in case you didn't know. Try to make you big stars out of people who have that bar to the left. That indicates a higher tolerance for that attribute (stress, etc.).

[Critch]

I'd tried flicking my star into a few different roles to see what happens, the reviews still complain but the novelty rating is slowly starting to sneak back up again.

So the plan is now to restart, maybe try for two "teams" of 1 director/1 star/2 crew members and rotate them, try to split the genres between them so that each "team" has expertise on a couple of genres but I get less of the reviews complaining about the same genre over and over from the studio. My first attempt (20th Century Gopher) churned out horror and not a lot else.

Have to see if it grabs me more now that I'll have more idea what I'm doing.

[sabotai]

The horror might have been the problem as well. I noticed that horror movies don't have a lot of demand in the early game (When you drag a screenwriter to the script writing building, you can see what the demand is for each genre). But I don't know if the demand is the same in every game, though.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by sabotai

The horror might have been the problem as well. I noticed that horror movies don't have a lot of demand in the early game (When you drag a screenwriter to the script writing building, you can see what the demand is for each genre). But I don't know if the demand is the same in every game, though.

In my game Horror seemed about level with everything else until sci-fi got a boost in the late 1920's, then comedy at the start of the 30's. Wasn't really a problem with profits, they were rolling in. Just that both my star and director had high starting ranking for horror, so that's what I made.

One other thing I read was that it's best to make a set, use it in 2 movies (3 at the most) then demolish it. That's also different from what I was doing in my first game, then I built and left the set using it over and over. Have to see how that works out in the new game.

[gkb]

I played through until 2005, but failed to unlock the last two items from the awards ceremony. I plan on starting again. I really struggled with getting my stars and studio to 5 stars, but getting a 5 star movie seemed relatively straightforward after I unlocked the highest level scripting office.

[sabotai]

Yeah, one of the mistakes I made in my first run is that I would just build new sets as they came, not demolishing the old ones. I think that hurt my studio ranking because it strained the builders to keep them repaired and my writers kept using the one ones that had run out of novelty rating.

[Airhog]

from what I have read, novelty rating does regenerate after a few years of minimal use.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Airhog

from what I have read, novelty rating does regenerate after a few years of minimal use.

I guess as ong as you keep rotating the sets use around, it won't be a problem. Shouldn't be hard at all to edit each script that's pumped out to change a set or two if they start getting overused.

[Airhog]

I started a sandbox game from the 1930's. A few things definately need changed to make this mode worth playing.

1. All of the bonus items you get from completing levels in the single player mode are available from the start. Makes it insanely easy to pump out 2.5 star scripts. I have played about 7 years, and made five movies. They are rated #1 through #5. It would be much better to have added those to research.

2. My biggest gripe is that there is not any award shows in sandbox mode. Now the 1st suggestion might have been difficult to implement, but why in the world would they remove the award shows from the sandbox mode?

3. Without having to manage the stars ratings, the challenge is minimal at best. I think that's the only part of the game that has any challenge.

[Wolfpack]

Well, if it's a sandbox mode, I would expect no real competition or difficulty. You're just "having fun" without constraints. The sky's the limit, as they say. I know games like Railroad Tycoon came with sandbox modes where you could do anything you wanted without worrying about driving your company into the ground because it allowed you to build a railroad system exactly as you'd like it to be, not what you needed it to be. I imagine this is the same way.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

Well, if it's a sandbox mode, I would expect no real competition or difficulty. You're just "having fun" without constraints. The sky's the limit, as they say. I know games like Railroad Tycoon came with sandbox modes where you could do anything you wanted without worrying about driving your company into the ground because it allowed you to build a railroad system exactly as you'd like it to be, not what you needed it to be. I imagine this is the same way.

Yeah, I use Sandbox with all the easy stuff checked and max starting money to make my own custom movies.

[Bonegavel]

I'm mixed on the game so far.

The stars having issues gets old after a while. I can see your top star or so having tantrums but even my 37th ranked star? They would be happy to just have a damn job.

I would have liked some serendipity in the quality of the movies. IOW, would've been nice to crank out a crappy cheap flick and have it go on to gross tons (ala Blair Witch).

As it stands, you pretty much know exactly what the movie is going to do give or take a few fractions of a star.

[Airhog]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

Well, if it's a sandbox mode, I would expect no real competition or difficulty. You're just "having fun" without constraints. The sky's the limit, as they say. I know games like Railroad Tycoon came with sandbox modes where you could do anything you wanted without worrying about driving your company into the ground because it allowed you to build a railroad system exactly as you'd like it to be, not what you needed it to be. I imagine this is the same way.

On some levels I do agree. BUt why even have the other studios in sandbox mode? What is the point of that? Why remove features from the sandbox mode that are in the regular game mode? It just doesnt make much sense.

[Wolfpack]

Hmm...a fair point. Since I don't have the game, I couldn't give you an answer to that. A true sandbox for a game like this should essentially be something where you just didn't worry about competitors, year, or anything. You just made movies. Pick your stars, write your script, shoot it, release it to the website for public feedback.

[Mustang]

That's what I was hoping for in sandbox mode. The way it is, if I want to use the same star over and over, I'm going to have to make alot of saves to retain

Star A - Sci Fi lot 2000
Star A - Sci Fi lot 2005
Star A - Action lot 2000
Star A - Action lot 2005

That way.. if I want to make a few movies with my star, I can go back.. Part of what I want to do is make multiple movies with the same star but, not have them age in game time.

Unless I'm missing something where I don't need to do this... Although, I guess I could save the base lot for each genre (can't do ALL the sets on your lot.. not enough space) and import them each time...

[Airhog]

I dont know about you mustang, but I can easily fit every lot onto my set

[LionsFan10]

Maybe I've missed something along the way, but is there a way I can add my own music into this game for my movies? I would really like to do that but I can't seem to figure out how if somebody knows would you care to explain or point me in the direction I need to go to find out how?

Thanks.

[SirFozzie]

post production, I think. The game uses ogg sound however.

[LionsFan10]

Ah, is there a program I need to download somewhere to convert files to ogg?

Thanks again.

[Raiders Army]

Just got the game from my brother for my birthday. I believe the manual said you could use .wav files not exceeding 40 seconds in length for music but they had to be in the right folder.

I like the game so far (I'm in 1940) and the first three and a half hours just blew by. I just can't figure out how to demolish the sets since my studio lot looks very patchwork.

[ShovelMonkey]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Just got the game from my brother for my birthday. I believe the manual said you could use .wav files not exceeding 40 seconds in length for music but they had to be in the right folder.

I like the game so far (I'm in 1940) and the first three and a half hours just blew by. I just can't figure out how to demolish the sets since my studio lot looks very patchwork.

Pick up one of your builders and hold it over the building you want to demolish. Several icons will appear around the building, one of which looks like a hand grenade or bomb. BOOM!

[Raiders Army]

Ah, many thanks.

[sachmo71]

For the bargin hunters out there, this game is $12.90 at Gogamer.com:

http://www.gogamer.com/The-Movies--I...VVviewprod.htm

[Pumpy Tudors]

I bought the expansion pack months ago, but I never got around to opening it (how many games have I said that about lately?). For some reason, I've been itching to play The Movies again, but I haven't had time.

For $12.90, I think it's a good deal. The game isn't everything that I'd hoped it would be, but I had fun with it. I hope to have more fun with it when I finally get around to playing again.

[Logan]

Damn it...I thought he returned.

[cuervo72]

Hmm...if I can't find anything cheaper, this might be a good one to pick up to get my $.01 CoV copy at EB/Gamespot.

[CleBrownsfan]

Anybody have the The Movies: Stunts & Effects Expansion Pack and is willing to sell it? I'm looking for it on Amazon and Ebay but I see MAC only.

[JediKooter]

Buy a Mac!! WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD!!!!

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

Anybody have the The Movies: Stunts & Effects Expansion Pack and is willing to sell it? I'm looking for it on Amazon and Ebay but I see MAC only.

Ebay has a few PC ones listed so, not sure what you are using for search terms. Try movies stunts effects and a few will pop up.

[CleBrownsfan]

I only saw 1 on ebay and it would cost me min $15 +$19 for shipping. I was looking for it a little cheaper than that

[JPhillips]

Thought it might be on Steam or Direct2Drive, but I can't find it.

[CleBrownsfan]

I did check those sites as well.

I've been messing around with the original for the past couple nights... gets pretty tedious but I now want to see how the expansion is. Can't believe how hard it is to find.

[Swaggs]

If you haven't already, you might try Target or Walmart to see if they have it for $9.99 or so. Or see if there is a bundle pack available at a discount price, considering how old the game is.

[sabotai]

I know it used to be on Steam so I checked the forums and apparently they stopped selling it. Can't find a reason for it, but also saw a post that said it was removed from Direct2Drive as well. So, Activision must have pulled it from the download sites for some reason.

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by JediKooter

Buy a Mac!! WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD!!!!

Totally wrong game, you idiot.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I saw the game available in the Office Depot bargain bin the other day. 10-15 copies of the game priced at $10.

[CleBrownsfan]

I called my local Gamestop and they didn't have it but a store in Columbus does/did. They put me on hold and called to C-bus store - they are shipping it to my local branch for me to pick up... kudos to Gamestop