OT: Remember Hollywood Mogul?

[Swaggs]

Hollywood Mogul was/is a great game that was one of the first text-sims that I ever really got into. I haven't played it for awhile, but it is still on my hard drive.

Anyway, if anyone had been following, HM3 was supposed to originally been released in early 2004, but most recently it had been pushed back to December 2005. I just saw that it is no expected "no sooner" than Summer 2006. Kind of a bummer. I wish there were more entertainment-style text sims.

[WrongWay]

"The Movies" should be just around the corner.

[Young Drachma]

Yeah, I liked that game. It was fun, for sure.

[TazFTW]

"The Movies" should be just around the corner.
November 8. http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/images/smiles/banana.gif

[TazFTW]

dola

Sad about Hollywood Mogul 3. I've been waiting (and waiting) for it.

[Galaxy]

November 8. http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/images/smiles/banana.gif

That's one horny banana.

[kingnebwsu]

"The Movies" has been on my radar for several months. Hopefully it turns out to be solid to people who play it on either a macro level or a micro level.

Review should be around a 9.2 for this one...we'll see soon enough!!!

[Icy]

Try the new TEW2005 demo from greydog (released today), it's a wrestling sim but not that you are th fighter, you're the booker or company owner, you hire the fighters, you create the rivalries betwen them, storylines, fight results, manage the company finances, the TV and PPV deals, etc so i don't see it as a sport sim (i wouldn't ever say that wrestling is a real sport) but like a entertainment company sim, like hollywood mogul.

[Mustang]

November 8. http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/images/smiles/banana.gif

Is November 8th confirmed? Was just on the movies board yesterday and was just seeing a generic November timeframe.

Movies might be that one game that gets me off my butt to finally learn how to use 3d tools...

[TazFTW]

Well, it is the date listed at Gamestop, EB, Amazon, BestBuy, and Wal-mart.

Looking at their boards, there was a topic about a wrestling movie, which got sidetracked to having a boxing ring set. Which then got sidetracked again to talk about medieval sets, to which somone replied about the devs having a month to get it in. A dev then replied, "Its almost finished! We're not adding any more http://allboards.lionhead.com/images/newsmilies/happy.gif". That reply was two days ago.

I would expect the game to go gold by mid-Oct. I think the biggest thing they have to test now is The Movies Online, which is their system for letting users upload movies onto the internet. Saw a mention that it is undergoing stresstesting.
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[Cuckoo]

Yeah, I've checked in on HM3 from time to time, but I hadn't heard that it had been pushed back again. :(

Oh well, I'll definitely be giving The Movies a go. HM was a blast to play, even though it got a bit old after a while. It's still one I fire up on occasion.

[mauchow]

So how will your movies be judged? If it's honestly got a nice script without great effects, how does the game rate it? Or will it be rated when you put movies up on The Movies Online? Is it a multiplayer game? Wut up?

[TazFTW]

It is a single player game. You only upload movies if you want to share them with others. Lionhead plans to have some film festivals (contests), so I would guess they would be the judges when those events happen.

In-game, well that is harder to explain. You can check out the FAQ, http://www.lionhead.com/themovies/faq.html Several of the answers there deal with movie success.

[sabotai]

When The Movies comes out, I doubt I'll see sunlight for months. :)

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'll get The Movies on release day for sure. As for Hollywood Mogul, I really liked that game, but two things really turned me off from it:

1) The awards are random. I had hoped that there could be some type of algorithm to skew the awards toward one movie or another, but I think the author said that that wasn't the case. They're completely random.

2) I would've liked a more "living" database of talent. I understand that people in the game can die off, but there wasn't really a way to bring in enough new talent to replace them if you had a career going for a very long time. I may be wrong about this, but wasn't there a hard-coded limit to how many people could be in a talent file? It really got to the point at which I was tired of using the same actors over and over again during a career.

Those things bugged me the most, but I really didn't like the limit of 100 films per career either. I asked Carey (that's the author's name, right?) about that, and he said that since there were only so many "film ideas" in the database, he had to set a limit. I can see his point, but I think the game just had too many limits. I wish that the database had been more modular, I guess. If we could plug in more film ideas or more actors or more producers, etc., it really would have increased the longevity of the game for me.

Still, for some reason, I was much more annoyed that the awards were assigned randomly. I don't know why.

[Swaggs]

I'll get The Movies on release day for sure. As for Hollywood Mogul, I really liked that game, but two things really turned me off from it:

1) The awards are random. I had hoped that there could be some type of algorithm to skew the awards toward one movie or another, but I think the author said that that wasn't the case. They're completely random.

2) I would've liked a more "living" database of talent. I understand that people in the game can die off, but there wasn't really a way to bring in enough new talent to replace them if you had a career going for a very long time. I may be wrong about this, but wasn't there a hard-coded limit to how many people could be in a talent file? It really got to the point at which I was tired of using the same actors over and over again during a career.

Those things bugged me the most, but I really didn't like the limit of 100 films per career either. I asked Carey (that's the author's name, right?) about that, and he said that since there were only so many "film ideas" in the database, he had to set a limit. I can see his point, but I think the game just had too many limits. I wish that the database had been more modular, I guess. If we could plug in more film ideas or more actors or more producers, etc., it really would have increased the longevity of the game for me.

Still, for some reason, I was much more annoyed that the awards were assigned randomly. I don't know why.

I agree with you on #1. As for #2, one of the more enjoyable things for me was bringing in new talent (I forget what the word was, something like nationwide search) and then developing them into huge stars.

[HomerJSimpson]

I'll get The Movies on release day for sure. As for Hollywood Mogul, I really liked that game, but two things really turned me off from it:

1) The awards are random. I had hoped that there could be some type of algorithm to skew the awards toward one movie or another, but I think the author said that that wasn't the case. They're completely random.

2) I would've liked a more "living" database of talent. I understand that people in the game can die off, but there wasn't really a way to bring in enough new talent to replace them if you had a career going for a very long time. I may be wrong about this, but wasn't there a hard-coded limit to how many people could be in a talent file? It really got to the point at which I was tired of using the same actors over and over again during a career.

Those things bugged me the most, but I really didn't like the limit of 100 films per career either. I asked Carey (that's the author's name, right?) about that, and he said that since there were only so many "film ideas" in the database, he had to set a limit. I can see his point, but I think the game just had too many limits. I wish that the database had been more modular, I guess. If we could plug in more film ideas or more actors or more producers, etc., it really would have increased the longevity of the game for me.

Still, for some reason, I was much more annoyed that the awards were assigned randomly. I don't know why.


Only so many film ideas? How is that different from real life? You could just keep remaking the same movies over and over and over and over..

[Pumpy Tudors]

Only so many film ideas? How is that different from real life? You could just keep remaking the same movies over and over and over and over..
I didn't really explain it properly. I don't know if you've played the game, but one of your options before you develop a film is to "buy" a story idea from someplace. For instance, you could adapt a book or a play or buy a character's screenplay and produce a film. There was a database of these "ideas" that you could choose from. It would be kind of weird if Joe Q. Writer had a book plot that was "Two lovable teenage boys have sex with all of their classmates" in year 1 of your career, and then you have Laura P. Author have a book plot that is "Two lovable teenage boys have sex with all of their classmates" in year 7.

There was a limited number of ideas, and to keep them from running out or duplicating during the course of a single career, Carey set a 100-film limit on each game. At least, that's what he told me. That's why I wish that people could make add-ons or plug-ins that would allow you to create additions to the databases instead of replacing them. That way, you could make your own "ideas" and then add on "ideas" from other people and have a much larger base to choose from. Unfortunately, he didn't design the game that way, and that took a lot of its longevity away.

It's still a very good game, and I'm sure I'll play it again sometime, but I just won't play for long.

[HomerJSimpson]

I didn't really explain it properly. I don't know if you've played the game, but one of your options before you develop a film is to "buy" a story idea from someplace. For instance, you could adapt a book or a play or buy a character's screenplay and produce a film. There was a database of these "ideas" that you could choose from. It would be kind of weird if Joe Q. Writer had a book plot that was "Two lovable teenage boys have sex with all of their classmates" in year 1 of your career, and then you have Laura P. Author have a book plot that is "Two lovable teenage boys have sex with all of their classmates" in year 7.

There was a limited number of ideas, and to keep them from running out or duplicating during the course of a single career, Carey set a 100-film limit on each game. At least, that's what he told me. That's why I wish that people could make add-ons or plug-ins that would allow you to create additions to the databases instead of replacing them. That way, you could make your own "ideas" and then add on "ideas" from other people and have a much larger base to choose from. Unfortunately, he didn't design the game that way, and that took a lot of its longevity away.

It's still a very good game, and I'm sure I'll play it again sometime, but I just won't play for long.


Maybe I didn't explain it properly. It was a joke.

[AgustusM]

I played the game in v1 and v2 and found it enjoyable - but found it flawed and the developer did not seem to listen or care about his users feedback IMO.

[kcchief19]

I played the game in v1 and v2 and found it enjoyable - but found it flawed and the developer did not seem to listen or care about his users feedback IMO. Huh. I found the exact opposite. I *think* Carey heard we were talking about the game one day here and dropped by one day and had a real nice conversation about the game and ideas. I think a large part of the delay of HM3 has been his effort to try and incorporate as many suggestions as possible. He sent me an e-mail about a post I made and responded very nicely to my thoughts and suggestions. He seemed to genuinely appreciate the feedback.

Carey is a part-time developer. He still does HM around a regular job. I don't know how most people will feel about HM3. I think it will be much deeper than the previous versions and may be too much detail for some.

On the other extreme, I have very low expectations about The Movies. It's development seems to have digressed from being a movie studio simulation to being The Sims: Let's Make a Movie expansion. It seems like most of the gameplay will focus around making your own crappy trailers and sharing them with other nerds on the Internet. Big freakin' whoopty doo.

[Swaggs]

Huh. I found the exact opposite. I *think* Carey heard we were talking about the game one day here and dropped by one day and had a real nice conversation about the game and ideas. I think a large part of the delay of HM3 has been his effort to try and incorporate as many suggestions as possible. He sent me an e-mail about a post I made and responded very nicely to my thoughts and suggestions. He seemed to genuinely appreciate the feedback.

Carey is a part-time developer. He still does HM around a regular job. I don't know how most people will feel about HM3. I think it will be much deeper than the previous versions and may be too much detail for some.

On the other extreme, I have very low expectations about The Movies. It's development seems to have digressed from being a movie studio simulation to being The Sims: Let's Make a Movie expansion. It seems like most of the gameplay will focus around making your own crappy trailers and sharing them with other nerds on the Internet. Big freakin' whoopty doo.

I have the same concerns about The Moves as you do. I hope it is a great studio management game and not a "make the best two minute Sims movie"-type game. I'll probably wait to hear what others think about it before buying it.

[AgustusM]

Huh. I found the exact opposite.

I am not saying he is a bad guy or anything, but years ago on the HM forums I remember reading several posts where he basically shot down suggestion after suggestion. And I am not talking about my suggestions, I didn't make any - so it is not some case of sour grapes - just others that I read.

Also - I realize he is a part time developer, but HM2 was what six, seven years ago? and HM3 seemed a long time off when he said 2004, then 2005, now 2006.

having said all that I am sure if he ever does release HM3 I will give it a try - I did find the other games enjoyable, at least initially.

[WrongWay]

Also - I realize he is a part time developer, but HM2 was what six, seven years ago? and HM3 seemed a long time off when he said 2004, then 2005, now 2006.

Even though I get in trouble when I blast the independent progammmers around here I will say this again. I just get the feeling that they try to re-invent the wheel with every new release. Look at the Madden Series they just made little improvements with every release of the game.

I have been following HM3 for the last couple of years and I think the programmer has just dug himself to big a hole with all the new features he claims that are going to be in HM3. I mean the list of improvements is HUGE. I have my doubts if this game will ever be released.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Maybe I didn't explain it properly. It was a joke.
Oops. I got that there was a joke in there, but I thought maybe you were also asking why limited film ideas would cause a hard-coded limit in the game. My bad.

[hoosierdude]

Anyone have a link to the announcement on the delay? I can't seem to find it. I have spoken to the programmer via email, and I have to say he has some issues... :)

I would like to see the announcement if possible.

[Bad-example]

http://p068.ezboard.com/fhollywoodmogulsfrm13.showMessage?topicID=896.topic

There are quite a few changes to HM3, but this isn't the time to go into all of them.

HM3 is on hold for awhile as I get ready to launch a new business.

HM3 will not be released until at least SUMMER 2006, because I always insist on at least 6 months of testing and there's no way I'll finish the game this year.

[HomerJSimpson]

Oops. I got that there was a joke in there, but I thought maybe you were also asking why limited film ideas would cause a hard-coded limit in the game. My bad.


No worries. I have played the game before, so I already knew of what you wrote. :D

[TazFTW]

The Movies goes gold.



Golden era of The Movies begins

Lionhead and Activision's much-awaited Hollywood sim goes gold for PC; console versions' ship date in limbo.

As has become the company's habit, Lionhead Studios circumvented its publishing partner's publicity department and has told the world directly its latest game has gone gold. The British studio took a similar approach when it sent both Fable and Black and White to the factory.

This time around, the game in question is The Movies for the PC, the long-awaited simulation game that puts the player in charge of a virtual Hollywood studio. Via a fanciful page (http://www.lionhead.com/themovies/news/196) on The Movies' Web site, Lionhead announced the game is gold and is on track to ship on November 8. It is rated T for Teen and will retail for $49.99.

However, Lionhead's announcement gave no clues as to when the other versions of The Movies will go gold. Although the about page (http://www.lionhead.com/themovies/about.html) on The Movies site says the game is still coming out for the Xbox, GameCube, and PlayStation 2, it only lists a release date for the PC version. When contacted by GameSpot, an Activision rep demurred, saying, "We haven't really talked about the console versions."

For more on The Movies, check out GameSpot's previous coverage (http://www.gamespot.com/pages/gamespace/index.php?pid=561567) of the game, including our updated impressions (http://www.gamespot.com/pages/gamespace/story.php?pid=561567&sid=6131571&page=1).

[sabotai]

The other night I spent 2 hours watching various TV clips and gameplay footage of the game. I can not wait for this thing to come out.

Gone gold and still over a month away....a long wait.

[WrongWay]

Gone gold and still over a month away....a long wait.
I see that term all the time, but always thought it had something to do with the number of game sold.


Gone Gold
Definition: A term used when the game has reached completion and is ready to be published.


I wonder who the idiot was that thought this one up? A gold record does not mean you have a record that is ready to be produced does it?

[Samdari]

I see that term all the time, but always thought it had something to do with the number of game sold.



I wonder who the idiot was that thought this one up? A gold record does not mean you have a record that is ready to be produced does it?

The master CDs used to burn the retails CDs that go in the box are gold.

I spent a lot of time looking for more about this game yesterday too.

I am really geeked up for this game, and will probably get it near release, despite me swearing after Black & White and Fable not to ever buy Molyneux hype again.

What is it for fool me the third time?

[WrongWay]

The master CDs used to burn the retails CDs that go in the box are gold.

Thanks for the info. I am now a little smarter than I was 5 minutes ago. :)

[kingnebwsu]

Updated impressions on "The Movies". It has a LOT of potential and it sounds like it could cater to several different audiences. I don't normally buy PC games on release, but I may make an exception here...

hxxp://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/movies/news.html?sid=6135284&mode=top&page=0