How much interaction will take place in terms of actual filming? All of us have seen the game in action -- a lucky few of us live who have gone to Lionhead for various circumstances -- and I think we all agree that the graphics are superb and the concept original. We also know that the 'sim' part of the game will be a major role: and by that I mean management; management of pay checks, settings, actor's egos, etc. etc. However, what about the actual movies? Will we have any say in actual film angles? What about specific circumstances? I know that we can edit character's faces (if not in the shipped game, as a free add-on) but how will the movies be made? For me, the slider is not enough. The slider controls violence and sex. So, turn it up and (if this is a horror film) the zombies start ripping off heads instead of simply staggering around helplessly. But the slider is simply a series of scripted reactions; there's no actual storyline, and dare I say it, no actualy events. How will Lionhead address this? I know we aren't making actual movies (we can only see the trailers) but with only the sliders, I think the actual 'making the movies' part is completely useless. Reactions?

i agree, but for a game planning to ship middle/late 2004 (maybe?) im sure they'll have time to address this, but i agree that if it's just 3 or 4 different sliders (violence, sex,comedy?, drama) then the game wont be very fun.

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Well, you weren't able to oversee the actual designs of your buildings in SimCity, but that wasn't really the point of the game. Therefore the fun remained. I would think that the target of The Movies will be similarly removed. Still, more control is always nice.

I agee with your concerns.. The movies is likely to be a great success with the mainstream audience but will it be a great game? As much as it hurts, to make The Movies a truly amasing game I think Lionhead should put maximum effort into the film making of the game. To sum it up, please surprise us with a deep filmmaking feature! Naturally not required by the player to get into.

It would be dissapointing if filming were just a case of: Make an action film staring Paul Brasnon, with 80% violence and 20% nudity. Generating Movie..... Your movie made 100 trillion dollars. you win, game over. It needs some sim aspect to making the film. Like thoose childrens create a cartoon studio programs, only better.

There will be a lot more to making a film than just choosing the actors and moving the sliders. I'll see if I can coax one of the design gurus to reply so you can get the 'official' line on it, but remember the game is letting you run the movie studio, not actually play the part of an individual director.

The filmmaking part of the game will allow much creativity. You can customise each set. You can shoot scenes from multiple angles using many different camera types, such as crane rigs and steadicams. You can choose the roles each actor plays i.e. action, horror, comedy etc. You can adjust the content of the scenes in terms of the amount of romance, action, violence, gore, etc. (different per scene) and also select different outcomes to the scenes. You can choose your favourite shots of your favourite scenes to use in your trailer, then choose the music & voice overs you would like. There are a myriad of things to play with providing each player the opportunity to make movies unique to them. This is an important part of the game! Cheers.

thankee

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I have no idea what I am talking about

thanks!

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Ta, sounds good. Not that I had any doubt, I just like harassing developers into making good stuff.

Awesome.

It's all starting to sound like a glorified version of Flash, if you ask me. Exactly what parts contribute towards the gameplay? Call me paranoid, but does anyone else see where this is headed? ...

hollywood?

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DOOOOM!

It's all starting to sound like a glorified version of Flash, if you ask me. Exactly what parts contribute towards the gameplay? Call me paranoid, but does anyone else see where this is headed? ...

The actual movie making, perhaps. However, that really isn't the crux of the game -- the real hook of the game is to manage a game studio. You know, pay checks, actors, stuff like that. It's more on the lines of Sim City than The Sims.

Originally posted by Eternity The actual movie making, perhaps. However, that really isn't the crux of the game -- the real hook of the game is to manage a game studio. You know, pay checks, actors, stuff like that. It's more on the lines of Sim City than The Sims.

Ah, so it's along the lines of a business simulation. That's cool. Although it would be cool if they went to town on the movie creation process. Ya know, a really cool and dumbed down version of software that you can create your own scripts and stuff. You could add in your mates, own voices, and direct mini films like with Flash, but with more options and in 3D. Then you'd be able to export it to AVI, or something. That would be the mutt's nuts. Months, possibly years of fun there.

I don't think either those of you who are interested in making movies, or those of you who crave a Sim City style management game will be at all dissapointed with The Movies As for harrasing us to make good stuff, hey we don't need harrasing to do that, its in our blood! When it comes to wanting to create a movie that you can export to an avi... well its interesting that you mention that.... bwahahahahahahaha!

I like this man cliffski. Give us more previously confidential information.

OK, cliffski is obviously the man. Soz, Jamie, but you're time's up. *hugs cliffski* Do you want your eggs sunny-side up?

cliff, one word of advice for dealing with scozzy there. lock your doors...and not with a chain lock, get a deadbolt...or 2.

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This sounds very neet but how much variaty will there really be when putting together a scene? How many sets will there be? Will they have set movements/scripts per set? if so how many? Can you add/change props or costumes, again if so how many? The Sims uses objects to modify a sims AI, Simcity uses preditcive anaylsis to figure the effect of buildings/networks on each other. How does The Movies AI work? especially on the set.

Nothing is set in stone so don't flame me if this changes, but AFAIK we are at the very least assuming you will be able to add or remove props to a set and change the costumes of the various actors in a scene. Would you say that being able to customise a scene is more important than having a wide variety of possible scenes? Its good to hear what people think

Originally posted by cliffski Would you say that being able to customise a scene is more important than having a wide variety of possible scenes?

I'd say props and backdrops are more important then scenes. I'm guessing most directors wont be able to afford lotes of "Location Shots" so an extremely custumizable sound stage is a must. I think the more varity of actions that develope by adding or changing the placement of a prop/custume/backdrop the better. Will the director put marks on the stage to guide the actors action's or will their actions be guided by the script/scene? If the wrong prop is on stage will it turn a drama into a comady? I'm thinking skateboards and hoopskirts, Oh what a mess

Originally posted by cliffski Nothing is set in stone so don't flame me if this changes, but AFAIK we are at the very least assuming you will be able to add or remove props to a set and change the costumes of the various actors in a scene. how about if u switched it so we could change props and remove costumes or would that not pass in a 1930's film Would you say that being able to customise a scene is more important than having a wide variety of possible scenes? Its good to hear what people think Well, the main thing i don't want is going to that online website and having everyone's movie look the same. so i'd like a lot of differences in scenes whether the props are different or the locations are, and I'd like lots of different animations, so that one scary scene won't look like another with just a different actor in place of the other actor. i also like that idea of the wrong prop turning horror or something into a comedy.. example:the protagonist reaches for a stake to slay the vampire but instead grabs a steak

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I agree with Giffdud. It would be nice if there was a good motivation for visiting web sites and watching other people's trailers, so I personally think customisation is most important. Incidently, will these online features be implemented into the console versions of the game?