Customer Reviews

The Movies: Stunts & Effects Expansion Pack

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The movies by Lionhead Studios, was a better then average game. The game allows you to take the role of a Movie Studio manager to build and operate a Movie Studio. The game also allows you to make movies and this feature could almost be considered an additional game in its own right. The original game had a few flaws. One of the most serious was a lack of employees. There is an un-official patch witch corrects this but the patch can seriously bog down a slower computer. On my computer (Pentium 4, 3.20 Ghz.) the game is literally un-playable after a few hours with the patch in operation. The reason is that the patch simply provides an unending stream of employees which is too much for the computer to handle. Other problems with the game were minor. The lot is too small to build all that a player probably wants but a player can tear down buildings they don't use as often to build other ones. It is a bit "simmish", by that I mean the player is expected to provide a slew of comforts to the NPCs in the game and address their "needs".
The original game had most of the best features of a tycoon style game with the added feature of making movies you can view and share online. My complaint with the expansion, Stunts and Effects, is that it really added very little to the game. You now have stuntmen and your actors can perform their own stunts as well. You also have more effects you can add to your movies. So the movie making side of the game has been improved a little. The problem with employees has not been corrected. The studio lot has not been expanded so you will not have room for every building you may want and the expansion gives more buildings to try to place into the relatively small lot. A larger lot would have been better. If this has been an optional download then I would have nothing negative to say about it but I am disappointed in Lionhead for making this an expansion. For those who use this game to make movies and are not overly concerned about the building and managing side of the game, this may be a worthwhile purchase. For those who want to play a tycoon style game, this expansion adds very little for the cost. My opinion is that Lionhead should address some of the flaws of the game before they go about adding expansions. The studio lot is too small and the employees' problem should be fixed. A good expansion fixes any problems that patches missed and adds at least 50% more features and game playing time to a game. You're not quite purchasing a new game but you expect to add substantially to your old one. This expansion adds a little but misses the mark to justify its price.

THE MOVIES works best with this accompanying expansion pack STUNTS and EFFECTS. Do not buy THE MOVIES game without it. It makes ones life far easier in creating their own custom movies as it includes "free camera movement." This mode allows one to take a single "scene" and do many creative things with it. I'm not sure how many people are playing the game, but if the message board at LionHead are any indication, a large number got THE MOVIES primarily for "sandbox" mode prinrily setup to create films bypassing much of the tycoon mode.

The game includes a fair amount of canned scenes sets and costumes and it's not hard to come up with something western, science fiction, modern or something else entirely. The canned scenes, two actors conversing or a guy in a chair smoking or two people whaling the living daylights out of each other plus maybe some 50 more can be combined together with voiceovers, subtitles and music to form very interesting stories. Head over to [...] and one can see how marvelous and inventive some of these moviemakers actually are.

There are limits and some users complain endlessly about them For example: the actors in the stock scenes cannot be moved around on the stage and only follow preset paths. But fortunately the " freecam mode" allows a variety of shots to be created from that one scene and strung together in a variety of creative ways that allows deviation from the preset view to make that scene fresh and exciting. One should also invest in a three button scroll mouse to get the most out of the freecam. Freecam can be "emulated " via the keyboard, but in my opinion, a "poor" emulation.

I started the game in 1920, then switched to sandbox but was overwhelmed by the sheer amounts of choices. I decided to go back into the tycoon game and edit the "scripts" that the game automatically generated for the movie shoots. These generated movies tend to be small, 3 scenes or so but once the custom script facility is obtained, provide fertile ground to manipulate and learn the basics of THE MOVIES filmmaking style without being flooded by too many choices.

Finished films can be uploaded to LionHead's site for viewing by others or shared on other websites as they can be readily viewed in Microsoft's Media Player.

Mods, that is, user added content, can be also supplement the supplied stock art---a low end modder can take a picture, scanned it in and place it as a backdrop for a stage to set up a different location, currently not in THE MOVIES maybe Paris, London or one's own personal corner of their apartment. An artist might seize upon this to place their artwork in the game and use it as a commercial for an upcoming art show or explain their piece, as a backdrop is flat and projects on a wall surface. High end modders have gone so far as to create entire sets from retextures or scratch and added additional props and costumes to the game, all available for download.

I've had problems with the copy protection scheme of the game, and unfortunately, this did not go away with the expansion STUNTS and EFFECTS. When I tried to run the game, I got the perennial message that read something like "DVD emulation software in use. Please disable any DVD emulation software before proceeding." Unwilling to take up any of the typical tech suggestions offered for this sort of a problem -reinstall video drivers, cd Rom drivers, directx, Windows, get bios updates replace CD drive, processor, motherboard computer etc, I got a "no cd" file for the game from one of the "no CD" sites and the game ran fine without further problems. If it weren't for these sites, I could not play the game.

5 stars minus- 1 for the showstopping copy protection issues (I'd give it 0 stars if it weren't for the "no cd" sites)

I agree with a lot of the reviews on this and the main game page. I think I spent more time playing it than most of the reviewers - long enough to figure out how to work around the various annoying quirks of the game play. My wish for future expansion packs or versions of the game would be to make the characters better looking and include year changes after the alien contact. I played the game well into the future and it got REALLY boring once the new outfits, radio, announcements, stars from other lots, etc stopped. It became a tedious routine of writing and making the movies, getting my stars to relax and interact, and releasing the flick in hopes that I'd get a high enough rating to get that last award and finish the game. Overall it's definitely worth the current price, and here's one reviewer patiently waiting for the next (and hopefully improved!) release.

To be honest, I bought this with no interest in dealing with stuntmen and adding stunts to my films. If you've played The Movies, you know there's a lot going on and only so much stuff you can reasonably keep track of. I've got 3 directors and 5 actors/actresses and I don't have the inclination to add any more micromanagement. Plus your stunts can fail and mess up your movie rating, no matter how much you train your guys. So the 'main feature' of this game isn't much of a feature at all IMO.

But... I bought this for the added costumes/sets and the freecam mode, which is excellent. The freecam mode allows you to scroll a cam slowly from one area or another, and pull the cam in/out as needed. You're not just limited to what the scripted scene gives you, and this allows you to set a lot of different moods and focuses which greatly increases what you can do.

So it's been said before, and I'll re-iterate; if you play The Movies strictly as a management game and don't have any interest in creating custom movies, then this pack is pointless. If you're into creating custom movies then it is essential.

Lack of people and space isn't a problem for me. You don't need more than 8 builders and 4 janitors, and 0 scriptwriters if you write your own stuff. You only need enough actors and directors to shoot 2 movies at once. And with sets, I bulldoze them and build new ones all the time as I need them. Having all the sets of a movie close together optimizes the shoot.

One bug which annoys the hell out of me - I have a game from The Movies which I continue to play using the expansion pack. I'm in 1995, I like my layout and stars, and I don't want to start a brand new studio. The problem is that the expansion starts the tutorial, without asking me if I want it, then sticks the tutorial in an endless loop, even if I do what the tutorial asks me to do. There is no way to stop this that I have found. And trust me, when a bubble pops up on the screen, and the rugged stuntman sounding tutorial guy tells you for the 6 millionth time to drop a scriptwriter onto a script office... it makes me want to jump out of a window. I'm only giving this expansion 4 stars because I assume this bug won't happen if you start a new game from scratch. If that's not the case, I'd drop it to 3 or even 2 stars.

This game is so much fun i wish they would make another expansion but i do not see that in the future. The stunts are great and adds more realism, but do not forget to buy the original. these games are awesome and a great buy plus a good way to waste time.

Like the one before it, the object is very simple. Make movies. The studio making mechinc is the same with a few more sets. The new stuntman feature makes the movies a little more comolicated to make. In summary this game is as good as the first possibly better. If you liked the origanal get this.

The Movies:Stunts and Effects does add alot to the game. Now there is alot more options with certain types of action,sci fi and horror flicks, as well as romantic and comedy with a bit of creativity. It was over all a good expansion that allows the player to create movies in their own way. However, one of my annoyances with it is the fact that the lot does not get any bigger, it's annoying! However, I found a way around it after weeks of playing: don't buy all the lots at once, if there is a need for lets say, a jungle and its as big as the bombed city, break the bombed city and place the jungle there and vice versa. Do this during sandbox mode though.

As many have said, you should get this expansion if you are getting the movies. After you've played with the expansion once you will wonder how you ever played The Movies without it. But the stunts are only the title feature. Plenty of other things are new too:

MAKING CUSTOM MOVIES-
-Freecam. Allowing you to move the camera yourself allows you to get exactly what you want out of a shot.
-"Environment". The former weather button, now the environment button, lets you control the level of rain in outdoor sets, and gives you the new wind option, where you can choose what strength the wind is blowing and what it is blowing. You can also add overlays over the shots, to make it look like your video is on TV, a spaceship computer, or simply making the camera wet.
-Makeover Screen. You can now control how much you zoom in
with the scroll button on your mouse. You can also view a menu with all options for a certain part of their costume instead of just scrolling through forever.
-There's plenty more costumes, including... a Santa Suit!
-Copy scenes. Right clicking a scene in the timeline will copy it.
-View all your scenes together. Watch all your scenes strung together as a preview of what your movie will look like. An easy way to see any problems with your movie.
-More Sets. Not only are there the new blue screen, green screen, miniature, and scrolling sets for effects, you've got a couple more normal sets added too.
-New scenes, stunts or otherwise.
-New Props

SIMULATION-
-Stuntmen. Ah, more people to train.
-New facilities for the stuntmen. The hospital, some training facilities and a stunt school have been added to your facilities list in order to care for your stuntmen.
-Stunt Awards. Stunt awards have been added to the Lionhead Motion Picture Awards, as well as a new series of achievements for stunts, each one rewarding you with a new set.

This expansion is great. Lets hope Lionhead makes another.
Maybe they should add more events in the future?

The tycoon element of The Movies is entertaining for gamers who enjoy that style of game. I certainly didn't mind it but the element that adds tremendous replay value is the ability to make your own movies. The expansion, Stunts and Effects, plays right into this. While it does enhance the "game" aspect, S & E really shows it's value in the "advanced movie maker" mode where you make your own films.
One of the main enhancements is the free-cam which gives the film maker the ability to move the camera and set up his/her custom shots. Without this function, one is limited only to the shots and angles offered by the game's developers. There are also advanced environment controls and the ability to use overlays. I would say, however, the free-cam mode alone makes it worth every penny.

This expansion pack provides added special effects and camera controls that are needed if you want to use "The Movies" for serious machinima or even more advanced filmmaking. Particularly useful is the ability to save a custom scene after it has been set up - something missing from the basic game.

For simple gameplaying, this expansion pack doesn't really add a lot as far as strategy goes, although the new costumes and effects are still probably worth the relatively low cost.