16-Jun-2005 When we were invited to Lionhead Studios to see its potential blockbuster The Movies first-hand, it was impossible to refuse.
The first thing that strikes you is the game's almost complete lack of on-screen icons. "We've taken them away and replaced them with little bubbles that appear when you hover your mouse over something," explains Lionhead's founder and head Peter Molyneux.
"We call them intelligent Tool Tips. In most games, you end up playing the whole game in the menu because that's where all of the information is. These Tool Tip bubbles mean you can play the game in the real gaming world, as they give you all of the information you need in the main part of the screen."
To prove his point, Molyneux hovers his mouse above a wannabe actor queuing outside a Stage School in a pre-built movie studio. Within a second, two bubbles sprout from the man, describing his strengths and weaknesses, as well as details about his temperament and appearance.
"We want to make sure that anyone can pick up and play this game as quickly as possible, so we've added guiding streams that show you the most sensible thing to do with each character," Molyneux explains as he picks up the wannabe actor with a single mouse click, a subtle guiding stream meandering its way from the hovering man to the Stage School. "These streams show you the best thing to do with each person. But you won't have to do what they tell you, as you can also do mad and crazy things with any character."
ONE CLICK In this instance though, Molyneux follows the guiding stream into the Stage School, which features three separate rooms for creating star actors, extras and directors. With another single mouse click, he drops the character onto the Create Star room, and hey presto, a new star is born - with no casting couch involved.
WHAT'S MY MOTIVATION? Of course, once you've created your stars you have to maintain them - something that's easier said than done. With each and every character in The Movies carrying unique personalities and attributes, juggling the needs and wants of your star actors and directors is a near full-time job in itself.
"Some stars will be very difficult to manage and you'll need to give them loads of pampering. As soon as they get pissed off, they start developing addictions or refusing to work," explains lead designer Mark Webley. "Some stars will demand to be kept looking young and beautiful by having cosmetic surgery, or maybe you'll need to reinvent them," adds head of studio, Gary Carr.
Ultimately, your stars will be the main focus of the game and by helping them maintain good moods, you soon find yourself reaping the benefits at the box office - a happy actor gives a far better performance than a miserable one.
Just like in real life, the press plays a major role in giving your stars and movies exposure too, be it positive or negative. To demonstrate, Molyneux zooms into his studio lot, where a paparazzo is stalking his new star waiting for a photo opportunity.
"The more successful your studio, the more paparazzi will hang around your movie lot," explains Carr as we watch the trailing photographer take a snap of its prey. "The thing is, you can manipulate your stars to be in certain situations to get them or your movies more exposure. You can pick up the paparazzi if you want and drop them where you want them, say near a restaurant where your leading stars are having a drink together. The game's as much about manipulating situations as it is about making movies."
Next, we're taken on a tour of the Advanced Movie-Making screen, the place where your celluloid masterpieces will be forged. "When you want to make your own movies, we teach you some of the secrets that the movie industry uses," Carr continues. "One of these secrets is called 'The Hero's Journey', a template that most Hollywood movies use."
GORGEOUS DAHLINK Just like The Hero's Journey, your movie will be broken down into several segments that chart the key events that happen to your main character. However, how and what you film for each segment is completely up to you. With a collection of literally thousands of scenes - each replete with a slider that enables you to change both the outcome and camera set-up for each and every one - the movie-making options available to you are immense. Add to this the ability to add your own perfectly lip-synched voiceovers to characters, who can depict genuine facial emotions, and you're left with what's looking like being a hugely powerful, versatile and what's more, superbly entertaining movie-making tool.
Without doubt, The Movies is shaping up beautifully, a game that could be as intuitive and accessible as it is powerful and compelling. With just a few months left before its release, you'll soon be able to see for yourself whether or not it can deliver on its clearly titanic promise, and enable us all to make everything from schlock action thriller to cheesy sci-fi on our PC. Roll on Casablanca II: The Revenge.
Facial expressions and versatile scenes are all very well, but they'd count for nothing if The Movies didn't feature some great sound options too. You can breathe easy though - there's certainly enough to satisfy even the most demanding of audio engineers in the ear dept.
First off, there are over 80 unique soundtracks, ranging from plinky-plonky early 1900's rag-time to full-on orchestral pieces recorded with the Prague Philharmonic orchestra. What's more, there's also a database of literally thousands of unique sound effects to spice up your movies. As if this wasn't enough, you can record your own dialogue for each scene too, which will be perfectly lip-synched for each character. Sylvester Stallone had better watch out...
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