[GAME] the movies

[O.S.T]

damn, it's about time that we get a thread about that game(I did a search, there was nothing about the game on the first page, so meh)

after black&white 2 lionhead studios will release the game "the movies", which is about making movies.
I'll sum it up for you, if you don't know about this game already: you have 2 modes
the first mode is the story mode, where you have to build a studio(which is a sim, you have to take care of the progress of the studio, but also of your stars, but you don't have to play it like a sim, if you don't want to), make movies and be successful through the different decades of the last century(the kind of movies you should make depends on the time too, it's not very good to make a war movie right after WWII for example)
the second mode is making a movie, you can choose everything: look of your stars, backgrounds, you can write your own story or take a written script
basically the second mode is one aspect of the first mode, without the restrictions of the time

I've been excited about this game, since I saw it on TV recently(they had molineux(sp) on giga games, a show about games on german TV)
you can make whatever you want: 3 minute movies, or (if your studio has enough money) a 2h movie with your own story

and it seems like they put in everything: zombies, cowboys, futuristic/robot suits, guns, cars and whatnot
ofcourse it looks pretty cartoony and I'm sure you woun't be able to make a splatter movie, but people can get shot or have fights and I'm looking forward to making a zombie movie and a dirty harry like movie in 70's style
even if it doesn't look a bit realistic, who cares, it's your own movie :D

the best thing is(next to the many possibilities) that you can export your movies as AVIs to show them your friends or upload them somewhere and get rated

the release date should be in november for PC
don't know when the versions for x-box, ps2 and gamecube are coming, but there will be versions for all 3

official site (http://www.lionhead.com/themovies/index.html)

some articles and screenshots (http://pc.ign.com/objects/482/482108.html)

more information (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/the-movies/)

FAQ (http://www.totalvideogames.com/articles/The_Movies_-_Q&A_Feature_8050_2855_0_0_0_0_20.htm)

I really hope it's going to be 18+(less kiddos, who upload some lame matrix-slomo crap and make it difficult to find the fun movies)

[edit] some screenshots for the lazy people
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/442/themovies200407120933553801tx.th.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/my.php?image=themovies200407120933553801tx.jpg)http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/3871/themovies200407120933541922wc.th.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/my.php?image=themovies200407120933541922wc.jpg)http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/976/themovies200407120933494423xi.th.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/my.php?image=themovies200407120933494423xi.jpg)
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/4679/themovies200407120933489740ck.th.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/my.php?image=themovies200407120933489740ck.jpg)http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9344/themovies200407120933558957td.th.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/my.php?image=themovies200407120933558957td.jpg)http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/980/themovies200407270222185787bv.th.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/my.php?image=themovies200407270222185787bv.jpg)
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/6563/themovies200508180700575356mq.th.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/my.php?image=themovies200508180700575356mq.jpg)http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/3470/themovies031103016vn.th.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/my.php?image=themovies031103016vn.jpg)http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/2476/themovies0223040053ka.th.jpg (http://img3.imageshack.us/my.php?image=themovies0223040053ka.jpg)

[Jackal]

i heard about this a few months ago. I had forgotton about it. I hope someone will release a pron patch OMG JACK THOMPSON!!!!. Personally, I will be looking forward to making the sci-fi zombie killer action flick.

[Twisted Metal]

This seems like a really cool idea, I'm a bit skeptical on how it will turn out though. I'd be worried about it being really limited in what you can do... Like can you import custom 3d content? Can you use infinite camera angles? Is there depth of field effects? Are the characters ragdolls that are fully posable? etc...

[mokeh]

I am going to make a million clint eastwood westerns 8)

[Airmoran]

This has been a looooong time in the making. But it looks better and more flexible each time. I have a feeling a lot of people won't even "play" the game, but look up the money cheat and work a stream of ripoffs. Sign me up. :)

From what I've read couple years back, the game is suppose to be hugely moddable. Custom models will be supported, although the console versions might be kinda limited in that respect.

[Zarkazm]

Hmm, so you still trust Molyneux to deliver?

It's been a while since Dungeon Keeper, and his more recent efforts didn't impress me anymore.

[Airmoran]

Hmm, so you still trust Molyneux to deliver?
Well, when to put that way.... damn it. :(

Then again, he DID make Theme Park/Hospital, so there's probably some light down the tunnel.

[[IsP]KaRnAgE]

It's just a freight train comin' your wayyyyy.

[B]

Hmm, so you still trust Molyneux to deliver?

It's been a while since Dungeon Keeper, and his more recent efforts didn't impress me anymore.

He's the only one who tries new stuff, not everything works out, but at least he's trying it. Unlike 90% of the other developers who just copycat or make sequels.

[O.S.T]

I think molyneux learned from his mistakes and even if the possiblities are limited, it doesn't stop me from using the money cheat and making a 2h long shaft against zombies movie
it looks like the game is going to fulfil my expectations(which are 1. creating my own stars, 2. get some 70's clothes, 3. choose some camera angles and locations and 4. get the action going)

and after the release lionhead studios will keep on working on more tools to customise the game content and you'll be able to download them for free
if you email them enough requests for a program, they might write it

[Traxis]

I bet you that within 6 months of the release, someone will mod the game so you can make porno movies, and Jack Thompson will go ape ****.

[JaFO]

I'm rather worried about how exactly the 'scenes' will be done and how the 'actors' will perform.
I doubt that car-chases and gigantic battles will be possible. I think this first version is more likely to be used for full-colour variants of black&white movies.

It would be cool if that kind of stuff could be modded so you can expand the available scenes and actions for the actors.

[DeeperShade]

I bet you that within 6 months of the release, someone will mod the game so you can make porno movies, and Jack Thompson will go ape ****.

And on that day, i'll rejoice :)

[MrSmiles]

i'm sure it'll happen

[O.S.T]

in the US people who preorder the game in a shop should get a CD with the star maker program for the game
you can create the head of your own stars already(there are some pics of heads by player in the official forum)
and yes, a jessica alba lookalike is already in the making ;)
but it woun't be the final version, because it seems like lionhead studio members are taking some feedback already

I'd be worried about it being really limited in what you can do... Like can you import custom 3d content?
I think a quote from a lionhead coder answers that question perfectly
Ok lets get this modding stuff going then.
This is for the more hardcore modders (those with 3DStudioMAX 5), information for more 'casual' modding will be released later.
This page:
http://personal.lionhead.com/charris/moviesmod.html
Contains a few files that modders may find useful.
One is a render showing one of the gun props from the game at various angles, this is just so you can see what it will look like.
Another is the .dds file that is actually used to texture the gun model. You can see how the various UV bits wrap by looking here (I'm stretching my limited knowledge at this point). DDS is a file format used by directx, and there are free plugins for photoshop and paintshop pro on the net.
Another is just a jpg version of that file so anyone can look at it.
Lastly, is the interesting one, because its a MAX file of our gun prop. This gets exported using our movies exporter (to be released in the future) into the format used in the game.
We hope that giving out a gun MAX file achieves two things:
1) It shows you the scale we use and the rough polycount we use for props in the game, so you know any modded content will match up
2) The relative positions of the trigger show how to make a gun model that will link in with our animations. The same animations are used for all props of a certain type, so all rifles (be they space rifles or WW1 rifles) use the same anims, so the dimensions need to be similar.

Hopefully some talented people like DocZ can take this stuff and churn out the content they want. I am an AI programmer, with limited knowledge of MAX or animation or texture mapping, but obviously I know who to ask if anyone has practical techncial questions about modding stuff.
Have fun

www.themoviesbacklot.com is going to host custom content

[Twisted Metal]

A post on ign has made me more skeptical:

"i dont want to disapoint anyone, but i think you may be expecting a bit much from this game.

How it works is that thousands of premade scene are in the game, you just decide what people are in the scene and what they wear, also i think u decide the props, but not where they go because the actors already have a chosen path. You can also put in your own music, scripts and voices or subtitles. There are also bars which let you select the intensity of somthing like romance or violence. There are also things in a scene that can be changed, eg one of the staff at lionhead said that they had made a new scene, it was a war scene and one option was where your side got masacred or they fought back.

A common misconception is that you can control the camera. You do not, but there is possibility of an expansion called directors cut where you can move the camera and other things"

If that's true that you can't control the camera and have to choose from premade scenes, then that will suck! How are you supposed to create a unique movie if you can't even move the camera and are stuck with premade backgrounds?

[Airmoran]

Well, I suppose they still need like, a game. :p

I could still see it as being creative. Yeah, it won't be a full amateur film studio, but part of the fun will be to see how people managed to take an existing scene and totally twist it with a creative combination of props, dialogue, etc.

In Sims 1/2 you were similarily limited by the rules set down for house building and the limited selection of objects, yet many people have managed to build full lighthouses, castles, etc.

[O.S.T]

If that's true that you can't control the camera and have to choose from premade scenes, then that will suck! How are you supposed to create a unique movie if you can't even move the camera and are stuck with premade backgrounds?
yes, you have set camera angles you can choose from, because "it would be too complicated for the gamer to be the camera man too"(which is bs imo, they could give the player the option to use the suggested angles, or to be the camera man)
well, I don't worry about that, because there's already a modding community working on new models and stuff for the game(so far I've only seen a star wars gun and a sniper rifle) and if the people keep bugging lionhead studios they are going to make tools to give you more freedom

so far we have to wait how it all turns out, maybe the game allows you to put in custom sets and whatnot, but I'm sure the creative people around the world are going to use the game as a basis to make real unique things

oh, and if you want to make some faces already
here's the the tool:
http://lionsource.planet-multiplayer.de/download/dl.php?id=533
at first I wasn't to keen on the program, but with the face morphing(or however you would call it) and the advanced mode, there's the possibility to make nearly every face(though there should be more hair styles, beards and make up... well, I know that they're working on new make up already)

[O.S.T]

the movies goes gold, release date 11.11.05

I've informed myself about the movies a bit in the last weeks, if you want to know something about it, ask me

[togmkn]

So, can you do car chases and Troy/Alexander-style battles?

[O.S.T]

car chases are possible, BUT you can only select car chase and if you take the standart camera views, you're going to have nearly the same car chase over and over again
that's where the production kicks in: to make fights and such things more unique, you can cut them together
I'm not sure how many sets allow scenes with cars(because I'm sure you would prefer a urban scene and I don't know how many urban street scenes are in the game), but if it's not enough for you, bitch about it until lionhead makes more scenarios for it

troy like battles are not possible, because there are no animations for people swinging and stabbing with swords afaik and the number of people on a scene are limited(while you're shooting there are dolls in different places and you drop your actors into the dolls and if you want to have less people than dolls, you just don't have to drop actors into the dolls, these "blank" dolls woun't appear in the scene)
but hey, bitching could be the solution for that too

[BobCobb]

My cousin wants to be a director, I should tell him about this game.

[togmkn]

Well, I definetly see potential for a sequel. When the game can handle more we can look forward to fights on top of trains and, once Jacko Tommy dies, Bondesque love scenes.

Oh, and is it moddable?

[[Ci]Mazza]

A guy in my WoW guild worked on the game. Needless to say he was pretty damn pleased the other night when they finished it up and golded it.

I'll ask him if we can make porn ;)

[Trynant]

YOU WON'T SURVIVE!

I'll definitely love more freedom for that game. Thinking that a community won't use a game that requires camera work is definitely a bad mistake. I do expect moddable content, apparently people are good at providing that =P.

Even with having to settle for generic sequences there still seem to be a massive variety of scenarios you can create, possibly limitless already. Just not as limitless as you could have with more features :)

If you don't know why I wrote that first line on this post you should look up a "movie" that one of the developers made. If you can do zombie voice acting I think there's a lot of ways you can go through this game...

[O.S.T]

we can look forward to fights on top of trains
it's already possible, but I don't think it's already in the game
there are scenes in trains and in driving cars(actually both are standing and the background is moving, if you only need the side view, a fight on top of a train is possible)

Oh, and is it moddable?
I think so

and you can import own models and textures
though you can't make sets by yourself, well, you could, if you are a programmer(every possible scene on a set has to be scripted), but there are rumours about a set maker for an expansion pack(but it's more than unlikely to happen)

[tool]

What is the release date on this? I just now found out about it this week and i'm pretty excited for its release. Supposely it has been in development for years now. After looking at screen shots it looks amazing.

[O.S.T]

release date is 10th nov and it has been in development for more than 3 years

[tool]

That is my birthday too! :D

Thanks.

[JaFO]

Where'd you get the date ?
The official site (http://www.themoviesgame.com/) makes no mention of it.

It also doesn't have any system-requirements listed either. :(
(it better not be yet another XP-only game)

[O.S.T]

Where'd you get the date ?
The official site (http://www.themoviesgame.com/) makes no mention of it.

I took it from amazon.de, which wasn't right: the american release date is the 8th, the european 3 days later(tells me gamestar (http://www.gamestar.de/news/pc-spiele/strategie/28753/))

[JaFO]

I wouldn't trust Amazon or anyone other that's not made by the developers themselves ...