Raiders Army
09-21-2006, 07:12 AM
Tuesday will be the pre-release.
SEPTEMBER 21, 2006
There you have it. Tuesday. Now you understand that this is a special deal, right? You will only be paying US$20 for HM3 instead of US$30 like the rest of the world later this year (in November or December). Because of this special deal, the "trial version" will only last two days, maybe three. So if you're not interested in paying for the pre-release you probably shouldn't bother downloading it.
Scroll down to the JULY 28, 2006 entry and look for PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY and then please read that carefully.
Tuesday. At one minute after midnight U.S. Central Standard Time. So Monday night, I guess.
See you then.
HMdesigner
***************************************
SEPTEMBER 12, 2006
Well ... still some problems I'm not happy with and that's stopping me from announcing the Pre-Release. The AI for the computer studios wreaks havoc on the game system at the highest Difficulty Level. I'm still trying to work that out. But other than that, I'm good to go. I want to say I'll pre-release next week sometime, but don't hold me to it! I expect some errors to show up AFTER you get your hands on it, but before that I want it to be the best it CAN be. And there are some errors in the HM Talent section of the game that allows you to create your own Talent Files. I need to make sure both HM Talent and HM Source work well so you don't lose the changes you make! I don't know that those have been tested well enough yet, but we're working on it.
Thanks again for your patience. It's no longer years or months or weeks ... it's days away now.
Carey
***************************************
SEPTEMBER 1, 2006
Hollywood Mogul 3 is finished.
Now it's just tweaking and adjusting, and looking for any remaining bugs. Then it's all yours.
I am most grateful to Eldritch009 for the hundreds of hours he put in debugging and play-testing HM3. And my thanks to the other testers, as well.
And thank YOU for your patience, your suggestions, and your membership here on the Message Board. I've enjoyed it all.
Good Luck At The Box Office.
Carey
***************************************
AUGUST 30, 2006
Sorry, had to do it. The pre-release of HM3 is delayed another few weeks.
There are just too many things left to "tweak" before I feel comfortable letting you see it. HM3 is hugely complex and changing one thing often effects other things greatly, especially in the box office results algorithm (which is now more than 1200 lines of code itself). So I'm not happy with it. And I made a change to the Talent Auto-Cast routine that started crashing the game which I BELIEVE I've corrected, but the testers haven't seen it yet, so I don't konw for sure.
In addition there's a problem with shooting two sequels back-to-back if you decide to kill off (or get rid of) a character from sequel 1 and hire someone new for that role slot in sequel 2 it screws up the Production Scheduling routine for some reason, and it's driving me crazy. The original design was not set up for these multiple shoots, and this is proving difficult to solve elegantly.
Also, at the Hollywood Mogul difficulty level (Level 5) the Studio AI can take a bit of time as all the computer studios do their thing at 5 times the Level 1 amount of things they do. See, I can't even write sentences that make sense anymore. So the optimization of that code is proving inelegant, as well, and I'm not sure I can really do anything about it, since in some game months, if you are playing at Level 5 the five computer studios will purchase, cast, and select release dates for 30 or more movies. Although the release calendar is REALLY COOL to see after that, as movies are staggered out for release up to two and a half years down the road. But still all that casting has to be done by them, and pre-production schedules have to be moved around as they try to find a slot when their ideal cast is all available to work; and that all takes computer cycles and time. So I may have to just live with it. And you will have to live with it also. Sorry about that.
So right now, let's shoot for the last day of summer: September 20, 2006.
Sorry about the delay.
AUGUST 21, 2006
After a week of screwing around, I've decided NO TRILOGY ....you CANNOT shoot all three movies at the same time. The game design is just not set up for that kind of thing. I cannot come up with an elegant solution to this problem. Sorry.
AUGUST 15, 2006
The ability to create and shoot a Trilogy at one time is NOT in the game yet, and may not make it into the Pre-Release of HM3. The problem I'm having is WHERE in the game to gather those sources and designate them as a Trilogy. It's proving to be very ugly.
The Studio AI is still being tweaked. The AI studio's ability to analyze Marketing Partnership Bid Requests is driving me crazy.
When the game ends you can print out all of the DailyFlix newspaper headlines, although this creates an enormous file, which I'm deciding how best to handle.
On the plus side, the Talent Hire / Production Start Date system works beautifully; you can hire a talent that is booked for months in advance simply by changing your production start date. All that works great. Finally. So if the talent you want is working for the next 22 months, don't worry, you can still get them.
The Box Office Results algorithm is more than 1,300 lines of code, and it's still being tweaked. DVD/Video sales still have a tendency to go crazy on me. There's so many genres, and each has to be looked at not individually but close to that. It's complicated. And complex. And I sometimes get a brain cramp. By the way, the Box Office Results are multiplied by 6 minus the Difficulty Level. So if you're playing at New In Town with a Difficulty Level of 1 then the Box Office Results are multiplied by 5 (6 - 1 = 5). If you're playing at the Hollywood Mogul Level (5) then the Box Office Results are multiplied by 1 (6 - 5 = 1). That will test your skill. Oh, and the days of the $6 Billion Dollar worldwide gross are over. Sorry.
So, with the continued dedication of Eldritch009, I say still: Summer 2006.
AUGUST 6, 2006
The ability to shoot 2 sequels at once is in the game now, and it's pretty cool, if I do say so myself. I'm really happy with how it turned out. As soon as that is debugged I'll be adding the ability to make a Trilogy all at once.
JULY 28, 2006
The Hiring fiasco is almost over thanks to Eldritch's never waning dedication to testing HM3. I couldn't release this without him; I can't believe the hours he puts in on this game. Thanks, Eldritch.
Okay, so if all goes as planned, and it probably won't, here's how it's going to happen:
PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY
Sometime in August there will be a Pre-Release of HM3 to anyone who is a Member of this Message Board. By then, Eldritch and I will be satisfied that there are no bugs that we are aware of.
BUT there will most likely still be bugs we DO NOT know about. The game may still crash sometimes. There will be a Bug Report Forum on the NEW Message Board and a protocol for logging any bugs you find. Those bugs will be fixed as soon as I can fix them, and a new .exe made available to everyone who has purchased the Pre-Release version of HM3 as soon as possible. Those bug fix patch exe's will be free, as they have always been with Hollywood Mogul.
The Pre-Release will cost US$20, which is US$9.99 less than the price it will be when it is released worldwide. Once the game is released worldwide you will already own HM3, and be entitled to all of the rights of anyone who pays full price.
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE
If you purchased HM2 on or after Oct 1, 2004 you are entitled to pay only US$10 for HM3 when it is released worldwide. This is a deal I made so that the revenue stream for HM2 would not dry up as the HM3 schedule kept being pushed farther and farther away. That deal is a contract and of course I am honoring it. BUT if you want the Pre-Release version you have to pay US$20 just like everyone else. AND there will be NO REFUND of US$10 once the game is released worldwide. If you bought HM2 on or after Oct 1, 2004, and want to pay US$10 you have to wait for the worldwide release sometime later this year. If you purchase the Pre-Release version for US$20 and insist on a refund or cancel your credit card payment your purchase will be considered FRAUD and treated that way. Sorry to sound so harsh, but I've gotten a lot of emails I haven't liked very much. If you are entitled to pay US$10 that's all I want you to pay, you just have to wait for the worldwide release of HM3.
HM3 PRE-RELEASE
So that's where we're at. Weeks away now. Maybe into September. I'm doing the best I can. It's been a long haul and to tell you the truth, I'm exhausted. There are times when I can't stand this game anymore. And then there's Eldritch cheering me on and cheering me up. I've put everything else out of my life the last four months, taken no other work, this is all I do night and day. If you're worried about not having the funds, put a US$20 bill under your mattress for safe-keeping. Then when HM3 is Pre-Released you can put that 20 in the bank and order with your credit or debit card. Just a few more weeks, now. Feel better?
JULY 22, 2006
With the Hiring Talent fiasco still looming large in my future, I've been finalizing Test Screening. In HM3 it's a bit more complex and flexible, and you can make specific edits (i.e. Edit For Drama, Edit For Comedy, etc). But I've been testing the play-balance, and I think the days of 99% are all but over. The good news is that you can choose an edit version so if Edit #4 tested better than Edit #8 you can release Edit #4.
I realize you don't know what I'm talking about regarding the Hiring Talent fiasco. Basically I rewrote 7 huge routines and the game exploded in every direction, so they all have to be rewritten again. I've been putting it off because I'm so frustrated I can't stand the site of those routines any more.
JULY 15, 2006
The code rewrite for Hiring Talent is almost complete. What IS complete is being tested now. What remains to be written is the ability to shoot 2 sequels to a movie at once (a la "Pirates"), and also the ability to shoot a Trilogy all at once (a la LoTR). I hope to have that complete in the next two days.
This talent re-code has really improved the game and the game play, I think. I'm also really embarrassed that this design didn't occur to me 3 years ago when I started coding HM3 in earnest. It wasn't until adding the code for Sequel Contract terms created problems with the original Talent Hiring architecture, that I took a long look at the design and thought it could be improved.
But it's also put me about two weeks behind schedule.
The Studio AI is not yet in. It was once, but I took it out so we could isolate bugs to the "HM2 version of HM3." So that's going to take some time.
HM3 is very complex. To code, to debug, and often to fix those bugs.
All the problems are of my own making, obviously, and the testers are doing an EXCELLENT JOB of making this game safe to play.
Edited by: HMdesigner at: 9/21/06 4:17 am
http://p068.ezboard.com/fhollywoodmogulsfrm13.showMessage?topicID=1004.topic
SEPTEMBER 21, 2006
There you have it. Tuesday. Now you understand that this is a special deal, right? You will only be paying US$20 for HM3 instead of US$30 like the rest of the world later this year (in November or December). Because of this special deal, the "trial version" will only last two days, maybe three. So if you're not interested in paying for the pre-release you probably shouldn't bother downloading it.
Scroll down to the JULY 28, 2006 entry and look for PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY and then please read that carefully.
Tuesday. At one minute after midnight U.S. Central Standard Time. So Monday night, I guess.
See you then.
HMdesigner
***************************************
SEPTEMBER 12, 2006
Well ... still some problems I'm not happy with and that's stopping me from announcing the Pre-Release. The AI for the computer studios wreaks havoc on the game system at the highest Difficulty Level. I'm still trying to work that out. But other than that, I'm good to go. I want to say I'll pre-release next week sometime, but don't hold me to it! I expect some errors to show up AFTER you get your hands on it, but before that I want it to be the best it CAN be. And there are some errors in the HM Talent section of the game that allows you to create your own Talent Files. I need to make sure both HM Talent and HM Source work well so you don't lose the changes you make! I don't know that those have been tested well enough yet, but we're working on it.
Thanks again for your patience. It's no longer years or months or weeks ... it's days away now.
Carey
***************************************
SEPTEMBER 1, 2006
Hollywood Mogul 3 is finished.
Now it's just tweaking and adjusting, and looking for any remaining bugs. Then it's all yours.
I am most grateful to Eldritch009 for the hundreds of hours he put in debugging and play-testing HM3. And my thanks to the other testers, as well.
And thank YOU for your patience, your suggestions, and your membership here on the Message Board. I've enjoyed it all.
Good Luck At The Box Office.
Carey
***************************************
AUGUST 30, 2006
Sorry, had to do it. The pre-release of HM3 is delayed another few weeks.
There are just too many things left to "tweak" before I feel comfortable letting you see it. HM3 is hugely complex and changing one thing often effects other things greatly, especially in the box office results algorithm (which is now more than 1200 lines of code itself). So I'm not happy with it. And I made a change to the Talent Auto-Cast routine that started crashing the game which I BELIEVE I've corrected, but the testers haven't seen it yet, so I don't konw for sure.
In addition there's a problem with shooting two sequels back-to-back if you decide to kill off (or get rid of) a character from sequel 1 and hire someone new for that role slot in sequel 2 it screws up the Production Scheduling routine for some reason, and it's driving me crazy. The original design was not set up for these multiple shoots, and this is proving difficult to solve elegantly.
Also, at the Hollywood Mogul difficulty level (Level 5) the Studio AI can take a bit of time as all the computer studios do their thing at 5 times the Level 1 amount of things they do. See, I can't even write sentences that make sense anymore. So the optimization of that code is proving inelegant, as well, and I'm not sure I can really do anything about it, since in some game months, if you are playing at Level 5 the five computer studios will purchase, cast, and select release dates for 30 or more movies. Although the release calendar is REALLY COOL to see after that, as movies are staggered out for release up to two and a half years down the road. But still all that casting has to be done by them, and pre-production schedules have to be moved around as they try to find a slot when their ideal cast is all available to work; and that all takes computer cycles and time. So I may have to just live with it. And you will have to live with it also. Sorry about that.
So right now, let's shoot for the last day of summer: September 20, 2006.
Sorry about the delay.
AUGUST 21, 2006
After a week of screwing around, I've decided NO TRILOGY ....you CANNOT shoot all three movies at the same time. The game design is just not set up for that kind of thing. I cannot come up with an elegant solution to this problem. Sorry.
AUGUST 15, 2006
The ability to create and shoot a Trilogy at one time is NOT in the game yet, and may not make it into the Pre-Release of HM3. The problem I'm having is WHERE in the game to gather those sources and designate them as a Trilogy. It's proving to be very ugly.
The Studio AI is still being tweaked. The AI studio's ability to analyze Marketing Partnership Bid Requests is driving me crazy.
When the game ends you can print out all of the DailyFlix newspaper headlines, although this creates an enormous file, which I'm deciding how best to handle.
On the plus side, the Talent Hire / Production Start Date system works beautifully; you can hire a talent that is booked for months in advance simply by changing your production start date. All that works great. Finally. So if the talent you want is working for the next 22 months, don't worry, you can still get them.
The Box Office Results algorithm is more than 1,300 lines of code, and it's still being tweaked. DVD/Video sales still have a tendency to go crazy on me. There's so many genres, and each has to be looked at not individually but close to that. It's complicated. And complex. And I sometimes get a brain cramp. By the way, the Box Office Results are multiplied by 6 minus the Difficulty Level. So if you're playing at New In Town with a Difficulty Level of 1 then the Box Office Results are multiplied by 5 (6 - 1 = 5). If you're playing at the Hollywood Mogul Level (5) then the Box Office Results are multiplied by 1 (6 - 5 = 1). That will test your skill. Oh, and the days of the $6 Billion Dollar worldwide gross are over. Sorry.
So, with the continued dedication of Eldritch009, I say still: Summer 2006.
AUGUST 6, 2006
The ability to shoot 2 sequels at once is in the game now, and it's pretty cool, if I do say so myself. I'm really happy with how it turned out. As soon as that is debugged I'll be adding the ability to make a Trilogy all at once.
JULY 28, 2006
The Hiring fiasco is almost over thanks to Eldritch's never waning dedication to testing HM3. I couldn't release this without him; I can't believe the hours he puts in on this game. Thanks, Eldritch.
Okay, so if all goes as planned, and it probably won't, here's how it's going to happen:
PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY
Sometime in August there will be a Pre-Release of HM3 to anyone who is a Member of this Message Board. By then, Eldritch and I will be satisfied that there are no bugs that we are aware of.
BUT there will most likely still be bugs we DO NOT know about. The game may still crash sometimes. There will be a Bug Report Forum on the NEW Message Board and a protocol for logging any bugs you find. Those bugs will be fixed as soon as I can fix them, and a new .exe made available to everyone who has purchased the Pre-Release version of HM3 as soon as possible. Those bug fix patch exe's will be free, as they have always been with Hollywood Mogul.
The Pre-Release will cost US$20, which is US$9.99 less than the price it will be when it is released worldwide. Once the game is released worldwide you will already own HM3, and be entitled to all of the rights of anyone who pays full price.
SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE
If you purchased HM2 on or after Oct 1, 2004 you are entitled to pay only US$10 for HM3 when it is released worldwide. This is a deal I made so that the revenue stream for HM2 would not dry up as the HM3 schedule kept being pushed farther and farther away. That deal is a contract and of course I am honoring it. BUT if you want the Pre-Release version you have to pay US$20 just like everyone else. AND there will be NO REFUND of US$10 once the game is released worldwide. If you bought HM2 on or after Oct 1, 2004, and want to pay US$10 you have to wait for the worldwide release sometime later this year. If you purchase the Pre-Release version for US$20 and insist on a refund or cancel your credit card payment your purchase will be considered FRAUD and treated that way. Sorry to sound so harsh, but I've gotten a lot of emails I haven't liked very much. If you are entitled to pay US$10 that's all I want you to pay, you just have to wait for the worldwide release of HM3.
HM3 PRE-RELEASE
So that's where we're at. Weeks away now. Maybe into September. I'm doing the best I can. It's been a long haul and to tell you the truth, I'm exhausted. There are times when I can't stand this game anymore. And then there's Eldritch cheering me on and cheering me up. I've put everything else out of my life the last four months, taken no other work, this is all I do night and day. If you're worried about not having the funds, put a US$20 bill under your mattress for safe-keeping. Then when HM3 is Pre-Released you can put that 20 in the bank and order with your credit or debit card. Just a few more weeks, now. Feel better?
JULY 22, 2006
With the Hiring Talent fiasco still looming large in my future, I've been finalizing Test Screening. In HM3 it's a bit more complex and flexible, and you can make specific edits (i.e. Edit For Drama, Edit For Comedy, etc). But I've been testing the play-balance, and I think the days of 99% are all but over. The good news is that you can choose an edit version so if Edit #4 tested better than Edit #8 you can release Edit #4.
I realize you don't know what I'm talking about regarding the Hiring Talent fiasco. Basically I rewrote 7 huge routines and the game exploded in every direction, so they all have to be rewritten again. I've been putting it off because I'm so frustrated I can't stand the site of those routines any more.
JULY 15, 2006
The code rewrite for Hiring Talent is almost complete. What IS complete is being tested now. What remains to be written is the ability to shoot 2 sequels to a movie at once (a la "Pirates"), and also the ability to shoot a Trilogy all at once (a la LoTR). I hope to have that complete in the next two days.
This talent re-code has really improved the game and the game play, I think. I'm also really embarrassed that this design didn't occur to me 3 years ago when I started coding HM3 in earnest. It wasn't until adding the code for Sequel Contract terms created problems with the original Talent Hiring architecture, that I took a long look at the design and thought it could be improved.
But it's also put me about two weeks behind schedule.
The Studio AI is not yet in. It was once, but I took it out so we could isolate bugs to the "HM2 version of HM3." So that's going to take some time.
HM3 is very complex. To code, to debug, and often to fix those bugs.
All the problems are of my own making, obviously, and the testers are doing an EXCELLENT JOB of making this game safe to play.
Edited by: HMdesigner at: 9/21/06 4:17 am
http://p068.ezboard.com/fhollywoodmogulsfrm13.showMessage?topicID=1004.topic