Welcome to my FAQ/Walkthrough which will hopefully assist you in the way you play Lion head Studios all new game The Movies. This is my first proper attempt at an FAQ/Walkthrough so if you spot anything that should or shouldn’t be here please let me know. This is a Work In Progress and because this game has only been out a short while I don’t know how to work the game perfectly get either. Thanks, I hope you enjoy the FAQ/Walkthrough and also hope that it helps you.
1.0. Contents 1.1. Copyright Notice 1.2. Version History
2.0. FAQ 2.1. Main Menu 2.2. Credits 2.3. The Movies Premiere Edition 2.4. Minimum System Requirements
3.0. Stars 3.1. Hiring Stars 3.2. Making Stars Happier 3.3. Addictions 3.4. Relationships 3.5. Selling and Retiring Stars 3.6. Press 3.7. Star Maker 3.8. How your stars are rated.
4.0. Your Studio 4.1. Buildings in your studio 4.2. Studio Prestige 4.3. Achievements 4.4. Awards Ceremonies 4.5. How your studio is rated.
5.0. Movie Making 5.1. Genres 5.2. Sets 5.2.1 Comedy Sets 5.2.2 Romance Sets 5.2.3 Sci-Fi Sets 5.2.4 Action Sets 5.2.5 Horror Sets 5.3. How your movies are rated 5.3.1 When Released 5.3.2 In the charts
This FAQ/Walkthrough may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Guide Copyright 2006 Mark Eastaugh ASCII Artwork Copyright 2006 osrevad
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************************* * 1.2. Version History * *************************
19/2/06 - Thats it! Unless anyone emails me anything to include I am declaring this a completely finished guide. I hope the guide helped you! Ill be covering the new expansion pack when it comes out later this year, so watch out for that too. Thanks to all of you this guide has, as of today, 17,000 hits! 15/2/06 - Added ASCII Artwork. Ornament and Furniture taking longer than I thought but it will be here eventually. 11/2/06 - Started on a major task, the names, price and descriptions of all ornaments, furniture ect. This will span out over the next week or two. 9/2/06 - Finished Walkthrough. 7/2/06 - Added more to research packs. 3/2/06 - Started on research packs. 27/1/06 - Finished Awards. Started writing the second part of the walkthrough externally. 25/1/06 - Started work on Awards. Changed afew errors. 24/1/06 - Added info about The Movies Premiere Edition. Added Minimum System Requirements. Added the Movies Online section - all content in this section is by Mortalitis_Infinitas. 23/1/06 - Added additional information on action sets. Also added the first section of the walkthrough. 21/1/06 - Added additional information about studio buildings. 20/1/06 - Added information about how your Studio, movies and Stars are rated. Also added the Action sets. 19/1/06 - Added Main Menu information and Sci-Fi Sets. 18/1/06 - Added Information about Sets. Also added a few buildings I had missed out. 17/1/06 - Writing of the FAQ/Walkthrough Begins
If you have a question for the FAQ you can send it to my email address, which can be found at the bottom of this guide. If I know or can find out the answer then it will be posted here in the next update.
****************************** Where can I register my copy of the game? ******************************
You can register your copy of the game by going to www.themoviesgame.com/register
****************************** How do I upload movies? ******************************
After setting up an account, go into Post Production in game and when ready click Export Movie. This can take a lot of time for longer movies (A 12 scene movie written by scriptwriters can take up to an hour). For very long movies and movies that use voiceovers and a lot of extras, it might not be a bad idea to export overnight. After exporting is finished go into the online option in the main menu. Here you can select the movie you exported from a list. Your movie will now be online! Be warned that you have a limit of 25MB and that this can easily be filled up with large movies.
****************************** How do I delete buildings? ******************************
To delete buildings hold a building over the bomb and wait for the small squares around it to fill. Let go of the builder and you will be left with a load of rubbish to clean up, so make sure you have plenty of janitors before destroying a building. If you want to simply move the building then drop it on the icon next to the bomb.
****************************** How do I delete ornaments and plants? ******************************
Hover your hand over the ornament/plant you wish to delete and wait for it to be highlighted. Hold your left mouse button to drag it away from its current position and then right click.
****************************** How do I upload voice files? ******************************
You can record your own voice in game so there is no need for importing them. Click the microphone button in Post Production. Once recorded you can select where it should play and which actor should lip-synch it. Be warned that lip-synching doesn’t work very well.
****************************** How can I raise my stars wages? ******************************
You can pick up your star and drop them into the finance room in the production office. This will take you to a screen where you can alter the wages. The same thing happens when you place the floating information icon into the finance room.
****************************** How do I add subtitles? ******************************
Put your film into Post Production and open up the bottom toolbar. Click the ABC button and type in the text you want to appear. Click ok and then you can move the subtitle to where you want it to appear at the bottom of the screen.
****************************** How do I improve my Stars image? ******************************
There are several ways to do this. One is by giving them a make over in the Make Over Department. Another is by giving them cosmetic surgery, which is unlocked later in the game.
****************************** How do you delete Ornaments? ******************************
First you need to highlight the ornament you want to delete and then left click it to drag it from its position. You then click the right mouse button to delete it.
****************************** How much should I pay my stars? ******************************
Pay your stars just enough so that their salary bar is full. If you pay them more than they actually want then it’s wasting your money, which could be used for better things.
****************************** Should I get this game? ******************************
If you like game such as The Sims and Roller coaster Tycoon or would like to try something a little different then I would most certainly recommend it to you. I wouldn’t recommend this game to you if you cant handle a challenge, as there are no cheats in this game.
*********************** * 2.1. Main Menu * ***********************
Here is some information about the Main Menu, which is what you will see when you have just loaded The Movies.
Game - Clicking this takes you to a sub-menu which shows the following: Learn the basics - This teaches you the very basics of The Movies. Recommended for first time players. New Game - This starts a new game. You can select whether or not you wish to play the tutorial or jump straight into the game. Sandbox - Sandbox is a way of playing The Movies without any computer set objectives. This lets you customize your game play so you can play in a manner that suits you. Load - Loads a previously saved game.
Online - Clicking this takes you to the log in screen for The Movies Online. Once logged in you can adjust which of your movies should appear online.
Movie Player - Takes you to a screen of all movies that you have maid in either Story Mode or Sandbox mode. Includes movies even if the save they came from has been deleted.
Options - This is split into four different sections. They are: Video options - This section changes graphical detail, screen size and colour depth. Audio options - This section changes the sound effects volume, music volume, radio options (Whether you want the Dj, News or both), PA Assistance and speaker set-up. Game options - This changed the level of assistance provided and how often the game should Autosave. Online options - This section is for users who connect to the Internet via a proxy server. They should enter the details here.
Credits - Shows the people who were responsible for making The Movies.
Exit - This leaves the game (As if you didn't already know)
**************** * 2.2 Credits * ****************
Unlimited thanks go to Mortalitis_Infinitas for providing all the information in the section about The Movies Online. Thanks Again :D Thanks to Queb for information on two other awards. Thanks to jcwordlife for information on the 9th certificate. Also thanks to clarkdude for additional information about the Municipal Building Set. Thanks to osrevad for the ASCII Artwork. Visit his site here - http://www.osrevad.com Also many thanks to all readers of this guide. The guide has now recieved over 8500 hits in the first month it has been online.
************************************* * 2.3. The Movies Premiere Edition * *************************************
The Premiere Edition of The Movies only has afew extra features to the normal edition. Here are the extras you get with the Premiere Edition :
An audio CD with the music from the game. Marketing Videos Concept Artwork Extra Costumes
All in all you don't get much extra but if you want that extra something then The Movies Premiere Edition might just be for you.
************************************* * 2.4. Minimum System Requirements * *************************************
Here are the Minimum System Requirements quoted from the back of the box for The Movies. I dont understand alot of it, im just quoting what it says on the box. This is for the DVD version of the game.
- 3D Hardware Accelerator Card Required- 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 32MB Hardware T&L-capable video card and latest drivers.
- An English version of Microsoft Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP.
- Pentium III 800MHz or Athlon 800MHz processor or higher.
-256MB RAM.
- 2x Speed DVD-ROM drive and latest drivers.
- 2.4GB of uncompressed free hard disk space (plus 500MB for Windows swap file).
- 100% Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP compatible mouse, keyboard and latest drivers.
- DirectX 9.0c.
**************** * 3.0. Stars * ****************
This section of the FAQ/Walkthrough will give all the information you ever wanted to know about your Stars. From their personalities to abilities. From how to handle their addictions to giving them Liposuction!
To hire Stars you just first have a Stage School building. When construction on it has finished, people will start to line up out side of it. Pick them up and drop them into the hire actor room or hire director room. You can also import stars by picking up people in the line and dropping them into the Import Star room. You then pick a star that you made in Star Maker and import them into the game. Often the people who want employment get stressed easily and this is why I would recommend stars from the Star Maker.
***************************** * 3.2. Making Stars Happier * *****************************
There are many things that affect your stars happiness. I have listed a few below.
Salary - If a star feels that they are underpaid they will start to feel unhappy. Make sure you check how happy stars are with their salary regularly because as their star rating rises they will demand more pay. If colleagues are being paid more than they are your stars may feel jealous. This will also make them want a higher salary.
Entourage - As stars become more famous they will want an Entourage. You can hire entourage from any employment line apart from the one at the stage school. Simply place them next to your stars. As time goes by Stars will want a larger Entourage, so check up on this regularly.
Image - A stars image is VERY important. It affects their star rating as well as their happiness and also their Genre fit for certain roles. There are several ways to do raise image. One is by giving them a makeover in the
Makeover Department. Another is by giving them cosmetic surgery, Choose from Implants, Liposuction or Nip & Tuck. These will make stars stressful but can change image and how old the star looks.
Trailers - I recommend that every star has a trailer and that when new trailers are unlocked that you upgrade as soon as possible. Trailers are a place where your stars can relax and they go from fairly cheap to fairly expensive. The higher the prestige of the trailer, the happier it will make the star.
When stars eat/drink in the restaurant/bar they will slowly develop addictions and even though eating and drinking is needed for your star to recover from stress, you should be cautious. If your star eventually does develop an addiction, you will need to send them into Rehab. This takes a lot of game time and your star will be unable to do anything else while here. If your star becomes addicted and you don’t do anything about it then they will start to eat/drink more often and will find it hard to form relationships with other stars.
When your stars have relationships with other stars it has its benefits, but it also takes a very long time form them, so it can be a pain. The major benefit of star relationships is that your movie ratings will be higher. Start off by having your stars talking to each other, then as their relationships get better make them join each other in the Bar, VIP Bar, Restaurant and then finally the VIP Restaurant. You can find out if your stars are comfortable with another star in a certain place by the speech bubbles that appear above their heads. If you try to rush them into things then they will let you know.
************************************ * 3.5. Selling and Retiring Stars * ************************************
When your stars reach 70 they will have to Retire. They will retire automatically so you don’t need to click anything. Make sure you don’t start a long project or you may find yourself having to re-shoot the whole film! Alternatively you can sell your Stars in the Star and Script selling facility. You can fetch a pretty good price for your stars depending on their age, star rating and their image.
We know that in the real world that the press always has something to say, whether it’s positive or negative, about celebrities. It is no different in the movies. A stars Press rating affects their star rating. You can increase your stars press rating by having a photographer taking a stars photo. To do this drag a photographer from the front gate to your stars when they are having a conversation with another star and they will take a photo. Don’t over do this or it will cause your stars press rating to decrease. Another way is to drop your stars into the PR room in your Marketing building.
********************* * 3.7. Star Maker * *********************
In the Star Maker you can create your own stars which can later be imported into the game. Creating Stars in Star Maker can be very beneficial because you can adjust their personality to say how well they deal with stress or how much they need to drink for them to become addicted. When using Star Maker I would recommend not giving your stars any points in the different genres, because these can be practiced in game, unlike their stress rating.
********************************** * 3.8. How your stars are rated * **********************************
You have heard me go on about a Stars star rating. This section will cover the 9 factors which affect this rating.
Overall - Your star has an overall star rating which takes in all of the factors. Maxing out all the factors of your star will give them five star status.
Movie success - Rated out of five stars. If your star has been in many movies that have had success this rating will increase.
Salary - Rated out of four stars. The higher your stars salary the higher this rating will be.
Performances - Rated out of four stars. A stars performance is rated like this - Mood + Experience + Genre fit = Performance.
Image - Rated out of three stars. A stars overall image rating is determined by several things. Looks, Physique and Fashion. The higher these are the better your star rating will be. This is not to be confused with how happy your star is with their image.
Entourage - Rated out of three stars. A star gains a whole star for every two entourage they have. If a star has six entourage then this rating will be at its maximum
Trailer - Rated out of three stars. The larger and more prestigious a stars trailer is, the higher this rating will be.
Press - Rated out of three stars A star with good press will have a higher rating here. Try dropping your stars into the PR room in the Publicity Office.
Relationships - Rated out of two stars. If your stars have good relationships with each other then this rating will be higher.
Awards - Rated out of two stars. The more awards your star wins the higher this rating will be.
********************************* * 4.0. Your Studio * *********************************
This part of the guide will help you run your studio. You will find out about all the different buildings and how to keep that all important Lot Prestige rating high.
************************************** * 4.1. Buildings in your Studio * **************************************
There are many different buildings needed to operate your studio. This part of the walkthrough lists all these buildings and what their main purposes are.
Staff Office - This building is located near the entrance of your studio. It allows you to hire builders and janitors and also fire/reject them. Builders are needed to construct buildings and sets and also to repair existing ones. Janitors are needed to clear up litter, which will help raise your lot prestige.
Stage School - Here you can make stars by hiring actors and directors. You can also import custom actors here from Star maker. Extras are also hired here.
Casting Office - Here you assign roles to your Stars, extras and crew are also assigned here. After the script has been rehearsed move it into the shoot it room and the shooting of your movie will begin. If for some reason you have to return to the casting office at any stage whilst shooting your movie, you should be warned that putting actors into different roles or getting a new director will make your movie start shooting from the start. This does not happen when changing crew or extras.
Crew Facility - This building lets you hire crew or fire existing members of crew. The crew work all the equipment needed to make a movie. You can't train your crew so they have to be crew in movies before their experience rises.
Production Office - This is where you can release your movies. Simply drop it into the release movies option and you will see the final rating for your movie. Once movies stop making money you will be notified. This means its time to archive them. Once you have archieved a movie you can still watch it in the movie player. You can also check out reviews of your stars by dropping them into the reviews section or raise their salary by dropping them into the finance section.
Script Office - Comes in four different classes - Basic, Intermediate, Proficient and First Class. Drop scriptwriters into the room that corresponds with the genre of movie you want to make. You can speed up the process by dropping more scriptwriters into the Script Pool. You may make more scripts than you need so you can sell spare scripts in the Star and Script selling facility for a small cash boost. The level of your Script office also determines the maximum script rating for movies you make in the Custom script office. The Proficient and First Class scriptwriting offices have to be unlocked by winning awards.
Custom Script Office - You can write your own very advanced scripts in this building. The max quality of the script is determined by what type of script writing office you have. The advantages of making a movie in this way is that you don’t have to wait for your scriptwriters to write a script for you and you can begin casting straight after you have wrote the script. Time is frozen when you are writing a script.
Publicity Office - This building lets you raise the public awareness of your movie and also the Press rating of your stars. At any point during filming drop the movie into the PR room and its public awareness will be raised. You can also drop an uncasted script and stars associated with the movie in here to raise the awareness even further. This also allows you to market your movie. When your movie is ready for release drop it into one of the five boxes in the Production Office. This will increase its overall public awareness. If a movie with little public awareness is released with a massive marketing campaign then your reviews will suffer because of it.
Makeover Department - This building is for raising a stars image. Drop them into the Auto room for an automatic makeover, these take longer than a normal makeover but it guarentees your stars will be happy about their appearence. You can also customize the way they look by dropping them into the Makeover room. Make sure you dont give them outdated fashions or their image rating will suffer.
Cosmetic Surgery - This Building also helps raise a stars image. Drop them into either the Nip & Tuck, Liposuction or Implants room to get started. Be warned that this causes stress and some rooms must be unlocked before they can be used.
Snack Van - This is a good place for your stars to get rid of stress when the Restaurant and Bar are not yet avaliable. Addictions can develop by eating too much so make sure you don't use is excessively.
Bar - A place for your stars to hang out. This is the second stage after talking on the street that your stars should go to form relationships. There is a VIP section which is for stars who are extra famous. The bar is one of the best ways for your stars to recover from stress, but is also a place where they can form drink addictions.
Restaurant - Another place for your stars to hang out. This is where you put your stars when their relationships are starting to get high. There is a VIP section which is for stars who are extra famous. Another good way for your stars to recover from stress, but if your stars stay here too long they will put on weight and develop food addictions.
Rehab - A place for your stars to recover from food and drink addictions. Be warned that this is a very long process and takes up a full in-game year to complete.
Trailers - Every star needs a trailer in order for them to remain happy. They start cheap and become very expensive. Pick the right one depending on the star rating of your stars. Trailers come in five different classes - Rickety, Cheap, Comfortable, Plush and Palitial.
Post Production - Here you can edit your movie when it has been shot and add things such as voiceovers, music and subtitles. You can also watch your movies here and export them, which means you can upload them to The Movies Online.
Star and Script Selling Facility - Here you can sell your stars and unwanted scripts. You will be told the estimated selling price when you hover the star/script over the building.
Restrooms - This is where your stars are headed if it says they are off to squeeze one out. Restrooms increase your studios Sanitation rating, so make sure you have plenty. Restrooms come in three classes - Small, Large and VIP. Upgrade as soon as you can because the small restroom requires alot of maintenence and decreases your lot prestige rating. Make sure you put plenty of trees around your restrooms.
Laboratory - In the laboratory you can research new things such as new sets and costumes. Drop scientists into one of four rooms - Mainstream Packs - Unlocks things such as costumes, props and sets for Action, Romance and Comedy movies.
Cult Packs - Unlocks things such as costumes, props and sets for Sci-Fi and Horror movies.
Stars and Studio - Unlocks new buildings and also new clothes for your stars to wear when giving them a makeover.
Movie Making - Unlocks new technologies which can give you a massive advantage over other studios if you unlock them in time.
In the early stages of the game I would focus on the Movie Making option as this allows your technology rating to outshine rival studios. To see what is included in the pack you are researching, click the right mouse button over the appropriate room.
**************************** * 4.2. Studio Prestige * ****************************
Keeping your studio prestige level high is very important. Firstly, if your studio prestige is high more people will join your stage school line, which you will be thankful for as your existing stars become old. Below are a few ways to increase your studio prestige.
Plants and Ornaments - Placing plants near undesirable objects such as toilets and bins will help the area become 'Green', therefore raising your overall Studio prestige level.
Paths and Connectivity - If all the buildings in your studio are connected together with paths then the prestige level will be raised.
Cleanliness - If there are only very small amounts of litter on your lot this will make the prestige level higher.
Set and Building Maintenance - Maintenance is very important to your prestige level. If the overall maintenance of your buildings and sets is bad then you can expect your overall lot prestige to suffer.
Catering - The more catering facilities that your studio has the higher the catering rating will be. This will increase the overall studio prestige level. Have at least one snack van and one restaurant.
Sanitation - All stars have to go at some point. The more toilets you have the higher this rating will be. This will also increase the overall studio prestige level. Toilets come in several classes, make sure you upgrade as your stars become more famous.
As you achieve certain things during the course of the game you will be rewarded for it by receiving a certificate. I have achieved the first seven tasks and am working on the 8th task now. Here are the rewards you can unlock and what you need to do to unlock them. Once unlocked in the Story Mode you can use these objects in Sandbox mode.
Certificate 1 - Wannabe Big Cheese Reward: Custom Scriptwriting Office Achievements- Release 5 movies Earn $500,000 Release movies with a total rating of 5 Stars
Certificate 2 - Junior Studio Manager Reward: Rural: Forest Set Achievements- One of your stars reaches 2 Stars Release a 2 star movie Studio reaches 2 star rating
Certificate 3 - Promising Studio Manager Reward: Script Writing office: Proficient Achievements- $1,000,000 in your bank account Win 2 awards Release 5 movies above 2 star rating
Certificate 4 - Respected Studio Head Reward: Publicity Office Achievements- One of your stars reaches 3 Stars Release a 3 star movie Studio reaches 3 stars Release a total of 15 movies
Certificate 5 - Celebrated Studio Head Reward: Urban: Wall Set Achievements- Earn $7,000,000 Movie Star total = 35 stars $4,000,000 in bank account Win 8 awards
Certificate 6 - Highflying Moviemaker Reward: First Class Script Office Achievements- Release 5 movies above 3 star rating One of your stars reaches 4 Stars Release a 4 star movie Studio reaches 4 stars
Certificate 7 - Big Fish Reward: Palatial Trailer Achievements- Release a total of 25 movies Earn a total of $15,000,000 Movie Total = 60 stars $8,000,000 in your bank account
Certificate 8 - Movie Mogul Reward: Urban: Municipal Building Set Achievements- One of your stars reaches 5 stars Release a 5 star movie Studio reaches 5 stars Win 25 awards Release 5 movies above a 4 star rating
Certificate 9 - Movie-Making Legend [Thanks to Jcwordlife] Reward: Suburban School Library Set Achievements - Release movies with total star rating of 150 Earn a total of $35,000,000 Receive 50 awards Release 50 movies Have at least $20,000,000 sitting in your bank account
Awards Ceremonies take place every five years starting at 1925. Winning awards increases the star rating of your stars and also your studio rating. But winning awards also have alot of other benefits.
When you win an award things will happen which will make running your studio alot easier. Here is a list of some of the different awards and what they do. Some of these awards will not appear for quite some time. Generally, a new award is added every year. All prizes are kept until the next awards ceremony.
**************************** * Highest Charting Star **************************** How to win this award - Have your star at the top of the charts at the time of the awards ceremony. You will find it difficult to get this award for the first few ceremonies. Winner can be an actor/actress or a director. All the times I have won this award it has been with a Director.
Prize - Trend Setter - The public will like your movies no matter what genre they are.
*********************** * Best Direction *********************** How to win this award - If your director directs alot of successful movies and is high in the Star charts then he may well win this award.
Prize - Midas Touch - Ups the quality of any movie made by the award winning director.
**************************** * Best Acting Performance **************************** How to win this award - If your actor/actress stars in alot of successful movies and is high in the Star charts then they may win this award.
Prize - Super Star - Ups the performance quality of the award winning actor.
************************ * Most Prolific Star ************************ How to win this award - Have your stars perform in loads of movies, make lots of movies in quick succession but make sure you don't get them stressed or it will threaten their chances of winning this award.
Prize - Perfect Fit - Your stars will fit in any role, their appearence and age are not taken into consideration. This is good if you have very old, high charting stars that you don't want to get rid of.
****************************** * Highest Charting Newcomer ****************************** How to win this award - Hire a new stars and work them extremely hard. Only give them as little time as possible to regain stress levels. Give them great trailers, entourage ect.
Prize - Quick Learner - Stars and Staff get experience faster. Great for training up new crew/scriptwriters.
***************************** * Highest Charting Movie ***************************** How to win this award - Quite simply get your movie to the top of the chart. This is the easiest award to win, as you can make your movies great by having the technology at cutting edge.
Prize - Easy to please - Stars are easier to please, you can expect to see your stars green bars flashing alot more often when you have this award.
***************************** * Highest Charting Studio ***************************** How to win this award - Get your studio to position number one in the studio charts. This is also an easy award to win when you reach 1950's
Prize - Half Price - Pay your stars half their salary. This is done automatically.
************************ * Most Prolific Studio ************************ How to win this award - You need to make more movies than rival studios since the last awards ceremonies.
Prize - Free Love - Stars can form relationships better.
**************************** * Highest Climbing Studio **************************** How to win this award - Climb higher than all rival studios since last awards ceremony.
Prize - Party On - Stars will not form food and drink addictions.
******************************* * Most Prestigious Studio Lot ******************************* How to win this award - Your Lot Prestige rating has to be higher than that of all rival studios.
Prize - Age Of Discovery - Scientists research things faster.
*************************** * Movie Quality Output [Following two awards thanks to Queb] *************************** How to win this award - Bombard the public with quality releases in order to outclass the competition and have the world uttering your studios name. Prize - On the Radar - Boosts the effect of PR and Marketing on all your movies.
************************* * Best Employer ************************* How to win this award - Keep all your stars in a state of bliss and pander to their every whim and this award could be yours. Prize - Brainwasher - Helps make your movies appear fresh to the audience, whatever their content
PLEASE EMAIL ME IF I HAVE MISSED OUT AWARDS!!!! I do not have the details for the other awards. Please email me at mark_eastaugh@fsmail.net if you have information on the other awards. You WILL be credited!
********************************* * 4.5. How your Studio is rated * ********************************* Your overall studio rating is determined by many different things. This section will cover the 5 factors which affect this rating.
Overall - Your studio has an overall star rating which takes in all of the factors. Maxing out all the factors of your studio will give it five star status.
Capital - Rated out of five stars. The more money you have the higher this rating will be.
Movies - Rated out of five stars. The higher the quality and box office takings of your movies, the higher this rating will be.
Stars - Rated out of five stars. If you have stars with good star power then this rating will be higher.
Lot Prestige - Rated out of three stars. The more prestigious your studio lot as a whole, the higher this rating will be.
Awards - Rated out of three stars. The more awards your studio wins the higher this rating will be.
********************** * 5.0. Movie Making * **********************
This section of the guide will most likely be the longest. The movie making is so advanced in this game and so this part of the guide will include everything from the different genres to all the different sets that are available to you.
There are five different genres included in The Movies. Below is a list of all the genres available to you in the movies.
Comedy - The one aim of a comedy script is to make the audience laugh. Whether they laugh at or with the characters it’s laughing all the same. Some recent real life blockbuster comedies are The Wedding Crashers and Meet The Fockers.
Romance - With Romance films there are many roads that can be taken. In real film making, Romance is usually paired up with another genre, most commonly Action or Comedy movies. Most likely, two people who have never before met each other fall in love, then there is something that causes them to split before the ending which unites them once again. Some recent real life blockbuster romances are King Kong (Tied with action) and also the biggest blockbuster film of all time - Titanic.
Sci-Fi - The one thing that almost all science fiction films have in common is that somewhere along the line there are going to be aliens. Try and experiment with some of the great alien costumes that can be found in game. One of the most recent Sci-Fi releases was War of the Worlds.
Action - Where else can you find explosions, gun shootouts and car chases than a good old action movie. I don’t really like action movies, but the most famous of them all is the James Bond series.
Horror - The main aim of a horror movie is to scare the audience. If the audience are not scared by what is supposed to be a horror movie, then the movie has most likely failed. A recent example of a horror movie is House of Wax.
Here is a list of all the sets that you start with at the beginning of the game, and also ones that you unlock in the laboratory. Several of the sets listed are also ones that are unlocked by winning awards. Next to each set is its price also its size. Sets have been put into sections depending on what genre they are most suitable for.
Just because a set is under a certain genre doesn’t mean it can't be used for others. The sets are listed simply by what genre is practiced on them. I felt this would be the best way to list the sets as a lot of people only like to build the sets for the genres of movies the studio makes.
Suburban: Living Room 1 Price - $37,000 Size - Medium Description - The soft sofas make for a perfect smooching setting or slobbing session.
Suburban: Living Room 2 Price - $71,000 Size - Medium Description - Will fill your scenes with domestic comforts.
Tropical: Beach Price - $71,000 Size - Very Large Description - Sun, sea, sand and sex... or sandcastles. The decision is yours.
Urban: Bar Price - $67,000 Size - Small Description - Great for romantic encounters and bottle-breaking bar-room brawls.
Urban: Office Price - $19,000 Size - Small Description - Idea for forbidden office liaisons, though don't discount the pulling power or office politics.
Urban: Plush Hotel Bedroom Price - $39,000 Size - Small Description - Can be checked into a variety of movies.
Urban: Shabby Hotel Room Price - $26,000 Size - Small Description: Somewhere to sleep or do something seedy.
Wild West: Saloon Price - $8,000 Size - Medium Description - The perfect place for romantic encounters, comic capers, drinking and brawling.
Rural: Shack Exterior Price - $67,000 Size - Very Large Description - Secluded and terrifying, only an alien or axe-wielding maniac would live here.
Rural: Shack Interior Price - $29,000 Size - Small Description - A den fit for a recluse, a kinky couple or... a murderer.
Suburban: Bathroom Price - $17,000 Size - Small Description - Ideal for preening, plucking, makeovers, manicures... and murders.
Urban: Rooftop Price - $72,000 Size - Large Description - Will help your movie rise above the crowd.
************************************ * 5.3. How your movies are rated. * ************************************
Your movies are rated in two different ways. Once when you release them and then in a different way in the charts.
************************* * 5.3.1 When Released * *************************
When you release your movies you are taken to a screen and each aspect of the movie is rated. The following lists what affects the ratings of your movies.
Script Quality - This rating is determined before you start shooting the movie. Although it looks as if the maximum script quality is five stars, the highest type of script office you can get writes four-star movies. Therefore I think the maximum quality for a script is four stars. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Star Performance - The better your stars perform the higher the overall movie quality will be.
Star Relationships - This rating is higher depending on the relationships of your stars.
Repair of sets - This rating covers the maintenance of the sets at the times they were being used for shooting. Sets that are well maintained will make this rating higher.
Crew Experience - You have little control over this as there is no way for crew to gain experience without shooting movies. The more experienced your crew become the higher this rating will be.
Movie Quality - All the above things are taken into consideration when calculating the movies quality. It is rated out of five stars.
Star power - If more famous stars are in your movie the higher the final movie rating will be.
Genre Interest - You can find out the interest in certain genres by hovering one of your scriptwriters over the script writing office. World events change genre interest from time to time and it is also affected by how many movies of a certain genre you have released.
Novelty Value - This takes into account the novelty rating of both your stars and sets. You can make the novelty value higher by not using certain stars and sets from time to time.
Technology - The more advanced your technology the higher the final movie rating will be. It is not hard to get this rating to ''Cutting Edge''. Just make sure you prioritise Movie Making in the lab.
PR & Marketing - Determined by the overall Public awareness and how big the marketing campaign was for the movie. This doesn’t appear unless you have a Publicity Office.
Final Movie Rating - This takes absolutely everything into account and determines the final rating of your movie. Good luck on reaching five stars!
************************* * 5.3.2 In the charts * *************************
In the charts your movies are rated on two things.
Quality - This is the rating from all the things in the section above.
Box Office - The more money the movie takes in at the box office the higher this rating will be.
************************ * 6.0. Research Packs * ************************
This section of the guide will focus on research packs and the default years in which they would be unlocked, the name of the pack and also what it includes.
Remember that in most cases you will unlock these packs before the date listed if you have plenty of researchers. Some packs can be unlocked up to 20 years prior to the dates listed, other only several years.
Basic Tech - 5th March 1937 Includes: Motorized Camera 16mm film Smoke effects
Intermediate War - 15th February 1939 Includes: War Bombed Street Enough military themed costumes to dress an army 9 props 7 backdrops
Basic Household - Between 1930-1939 (Missed the date, Email me if you have it) Includes: Suburban Living Room set Wide variety of domestic props 2 backdrops.
Intermediate Facilities - 29th March 1940 Includes: The Restaurant Extra ornaments and plants
Intermediate Horror - 27th March 1942 Includes: Shack Exterior set 2 props 4 backdrops
Intermediate Household - 14th March 1943 Includes: Urban Office set More Household props
1940's Costumes - 2nd February 1944 Includes: 10 costumes
Functional Tech - 12th February 1945 Includes: Realistic Makeup The Dolly Rig Hand-colored film
Basic Action - 4th Januray 1947 Includes: Traveling Vehicle Automobile set Urban shabby hotel room set Urban subway carriage set 4 costumes Number of action themed props 4 backdrops 4 new cars
Classic Horror - 28th January 1948 Includes: Shack Interior set 7 costumes 5 props 2 backdrops
Advances Wild West - 25th February 1950 Includes: Wild West Street set 8 wild west costumes 8 props 1 backdrop
Quality Facilities - 24th March 1951 Includes: Cosmetic Surgery Nip & Tuck Room Comfortable Trailer VIP Restrooms Ornaments including gym equipment, a water tower and extra plants and trees.
Classic Household - 9th January 1953 Includes: Suburban School corridor set Rural Field set 7 props 1 backdrop
1950's Costumes - 5th January 1954 Includes: A vast number of costumes
Advanced Horror - 27th February 1955 Includes: Rural Graveyard set 4 costumes 1 prop 1 backdrop
Advanced Household - 4th February 1957 Includes: Tropical Beach Suburban Living Room A number of props 2 backdrops
Intermediate Action - 1st March 1961 Includes: Urban Alleyway set Urban Bar set Urban Subway Station set Vast number of costumes Selection of props 4 new cars 3 backdrops
Quality Tech - 26th February 1962 Includes: Color Film Reflex Camera 35mm film
Intermediate Sci-Fi - 26th Januray 1964 Includes: Sci-Fi Starship Bridge 2 set Sci-Fi Corridor 2 set Alien World set Latex technology (Alien Costumes) Vast number of costumes Alien shrubbery and weaponry 6 backdrops
1960's Costumes - 24th February 1964 Includes: 8 costumes
Advanced Action - 18th January 1968 Includes: Urban Plush hotel bedroom set Urban Rooftop set Selection of weapon props 3 backdrops Impressive selection of new cars
High Quality Tech - 19th February 1969 Includes: Stereo Sound
Advanced Facilities - 20th February 1970 Includes: Plush Trailer Implants Room More Plants A Pinball table and drinks machine.
Ultimate Action - 11th February 1973 Includes: Urban City Street set Urban Modern Bank set May also have included costumes/props but I missed what they were.
1970's Costumes - 14th January 1974 Includes: Vast number of costumes
Ultimate Household - 4th February 1977 Includes: Urban City block corridor set Suburban Street set Bundle of props 2 backdrops
Advanced Tech - 27th March 1979 Includes: Pyrotechnics Monitor Camera
Late 1990's costumes - 21st March 1999 Includes: 9 costumes 3 mobile phone props Impressive selection of new cars
*********************************** * 7.0. Landscape and Ornaments * ***********************************
This section of the guide will include a list of all Landscape and Ornaments including their in-game description and price. As there are so many items this section will take a fairly large ammount of time to complete.
The Decoration section will be split into two parts - Cars and Landscaping. As cars are the main thing that should be used for decoration they are the only ornaments that will be listed in the guide. Cars can be added to the
*************** * Cars *************** The following is the description for all of the cars: A car speaks volumes about it's owner and is always a great way to have fun and let off steam.
Here is a list of all the decorative cars in the game:
Standard 1900s car - $500 1924 Chrysler six - $1050 1934 Chrysler Airflow - $1200 1940s ORV - $1300 Standard 1940s car - $1600 1948 Chrusler Town and Country - Price Coming Soon Standard 1950s car - $1950 1957 Chrysler 300c - $2125 1960 Chrysler 300f - $2200 1960s Sports car - $2500 Standard 1960s car - $2600 1976 Chrysler Cordoba - $2875 1970s Black Limo -$3500 1970s Pink Limo - $3400 1970s White Limo - $3300 Standard 1970s car - $3450 1986 Chrysler leBaron - $3750 2005 Chrysler PT Cruiser - $3750 1990s Red Sports car - $3875 2005 Chrysler 300C - $4000 2005 Chrysler crossfire SRT-6 - $5000 Chrysler Firepower - $6000 Chrysler ME4-12 - $7000 Chrysler Pacifica - $3500 2010 Sports Car - $7500
Path - $20 Description: Paths get your staff and stars around the lot very efficiently, Although they improove the look of your lot, avoid placing hige slabs of bathway, as this will have a negative effect on the look of your studio.
Delete Path - $5 Description: Select this option to delete unwanted pathway.
Grass - $10 Description: While it might look pretty, grass isn't cheap and requires a great deal of maintenence.
Sand - $5 Description: It may be cheap and moderately pleasing on the eye, but sand can seriously slow people down.
Tarmac - $5 Description: A hard slow wearing surface that requires little maintence and provides easy access around the lot. It's hardly the prettiest though.
This is the Walkthrough part to my FAQ/Walthrough. I won't go into too much detail as the different sections explain alot already.
If you are playing for the first time I would suggest starting the game with the tutorial, play until you have made your third movie, and then exit without saving. Basically the tutorial sets you up with a disadvantage. You dont have the flexibility on what genres you want to focus on. If you feel that you are doing really good after the tutorial then you could always just play on.
************************* * 8.1. The First Stages * *************************
Before you even load The Movies, open up Star Maker and make about eight stars. Dont give them any points in any genre, just make sure that you max out how well they can cope with stress/boredom and how well they can cope with addictions. Genres can always be practiced but you cant change a stars stress rating.
Ok. Load The Movies. If you know all the basics then start a new game without the tutorial on. Select a Studio name and a logo. Hire four builders and two janitors and start constructing your studio. Have at least one of every building you have avaliable to you. For this guide you will need to focus on four genres. I would reccomend Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi and Romance, Reasons being is that there are so many action sets which are extremely big.
Pick two genres and build the sets for that genre which you have avaliable. Hire four stars that you made in star maker earlier. Two Directors and two actors/actresses. Hire two scriptwriters. Pick one of your two genres and have them write a script. Select one director and one actor and get them practicing that genre none stop. Select your other actor and director and have them practice on your oter set. When the first script is finished start writing another one straight away.
Your first movie will only need one actor so start casting. Check how many crew and extras are needed and hire the appropriate ammount. Once rehearsing is finished start shooting your movie. Your other script should be finished shortly.
Once you have made two movies in each genre build the two other sets for genres you haven't got the sets for. Start practicing with your stars, keeping the same actor and director working with each other. Your reviews will say the novelty values are bad, but this doesnt really matter at this point in the game. Nothing you do at this stage will allow you to be the number one studio or have the number one movie.
Make sure to work on your stars relationships over time and keep them practicing. Dont worry about your scripts being only one star, the intermediate script writing office is coming soon.
Somewhere near 1928 you will unlock the Laboratory. This is a great building as you can research all kinds of different things. Hire four researchers and drop them into Stars and Studio. The quicker you set up the laboratory the better, as you can get the next grade of script writing office faster.
This is where it gets tricky. Two star movies written by script writers have two actors/actresses. Because you currently have two actors each with two different genres, you should now hire two more. Have one practice the two genres of one actor and the other one practice the two genres of the other actor. There is currently no need to hire more directors.
Keep shooting more and more movies and making your actors and directors more experienced. Focus on researching Sets and Technology. Eventually your studio, movie and stars star rating will increase. This will allow you to unlock things such as the Custom Script Writing Office and the Proficient Script Office - Which will be covered in the next section.
************************ * 8.2. The Real Deal * ************************
Your stars will begin to get angry if they don't have a good trailer or a big enough entourage now. Make sure that you don't use up all the spare staff in the lines as entourage, build them up slowly. You should also keep an eye on your stars salary.
This part sounds complicated but it really isn't if you pay attention. Hire one more actor/actress and have them practice one genre from one of your movie making teams and a genre from your other movie making team. Start writing a script in the Proficient script office. It will have three main roles. Put the star you just hired in a supporting role and two from the right genre team into the lead and other supporting role.
You should then write your own script for the other team in the custom script office. Make sure it fills up most of the three stars.
After both movies are finished, give some time for your stars to rest and then do the same again but put the new actor into a movie from the other team. As I said earlier it does not matter what the storyline of your movie is because most likely you will not want to upload them to The Movies Online until you have unlocked everything for sandbox mode.
If you have unlocked the Publicity office I highly suggest that you use it. Drop your stars in twice in a row and their press status will be full for awhile.
Well, you are on your own now. The First class script office provides scripts with roughly 12 scenes. Follow the same strategy as you did for the 3 star scripts but make sure to have a break after about 6 scenes to help with stress. This is also a great oppertunity to raise your movies public awareness.
Also, Watch for stars retiring. Also atch the ages of your crew. If one of the crew reaches 70 then the movie will need to be put back in casting office and more crew assigned. You would only have to re-shoot your movie if one of the directors or stars retired.
***************************** [Lots of thanks go to Mortalitis_Infinitas] * 9.0. The Movies Online * [Who provided all the information for this] ***************************** [section of the guide. ]
The Movies Online is an online element of The Movies where users can showcase their movies. This section of the guide will tell you all about The Movies online and what is and isn't allowed.
The charts is the center for the ranking of movies. Ranking helps determines a movies overall success and how many virtual credits it receives. The Box Office Factor is calculated for every movie on the site using the three following numbers:
Average Community Rating Number of Community Views Number of Days Since Release
The higher your movie's average rating is, and the more registered users who have seen it, the greater your box office factor will be. However the longer your movie has been released for, the harder it is to achieve high box office factors.
A user receives virtual credits when he or she does one or more of the following:
Movie Views - Every time a registered and logged-in community member views your movie (once per member), you're awarded with a small amount of credits (200 VCs a view).
Winning Awards and Competitions - Monthly and special competitions will certainly assist in your state of financial affairs if you've got the talent.
A High Charting Movie - Every month, an award ceremony takes place wherein a snapshot of all the online charts is stored for posterity. The top 25 movies overall, and in each genre, the top 25 studios, and the top 25 stars all receive significant credit bonuses.
********************* * 9.3. The PropShop * *********************
Once you have uploaded at least one movie, you are able to buy and download extra content for your game installation. You will see the amount of virtual credit you have in your account at the top of the screen. Visit the PropShop and browse the content available. When you have selected your items, click the checkout link to preview and check your purchase, then click the purchase link. Once you have purchased your items, start the game and go to the online screen from where your downloads will be detected and installed. You must restart the game after the downloads have been completed for the content to be available.
NOTE: The Download progress meter seen on the online screen tracks the file transfer process only. After transfer the files are installed locally by the game, during which time the progress meter may stay at 99% and the game window may be unresponsive for a short while, before informing you of completion.
ALSO NOTE: For Windows XP and Windows 2000 users, you must be logged onto your system as an Administrator with full administrator access and privileges for the items from the Propshop to install correctly.
