The Movies
Review
The Movies is a very original management sim released for the PC in 2005, a port for consoles was later cancelled although it was ported to the Mac which I'm led to believe has the advantage of being able to export video files in a higher resolution than the PC. I have however only played the PC version and therefore this review is based on that and also includes the Stunts and Effects expansion pack.
The game seemed to take forever to get released but I consider this to be to the games credit as it resulted in a highly polished product. The game almost operates as two games in one, on one side you can play it entirely as a management sim; managing your studio to get the highest rating and unlock all the games rewards. Or alternatively you can focus on creating your own movies, this being easier to achieve in sandbox mode. The different styles of gameplay and also the unlockable rewards which include additional sets and facilities give the game a great replay value only limited really by your creativity. At first however you must play the game as a management sim as the custom script writing facility required to make your own films is unlocked as the second achievement after releasing a few pre-made films. It is also a good idea to stick to one style of play and focus on either studio management or film creation as long custom made films will limit your ability to win many of the rewards in game and therefore progress. A good strategy is to play the game through until 2020 once as a management sim to unlock as many rewards as you can, once unlocked you can then use these in sandbox mode to make your own movies.
There aren't many game which attempt to take on as much as The Movies did and fortunately it did it well, the music is good and the game includes humorous well written radio hosts and commentary on world events.
The same can't quite be said for the graphics however, although they were brilliant at release they have not aged perfectly, particularly because the game does not natively support widescreen resolutions although this can be fixed (see below) the process stretches and pixelates the graphics some what. This of course isn't a significant problem and unless you've just been playing the newest releases you may not even notice and you easily get used to things after a while.
The game also suffers some minor compatibility issues running on Windows 7 which are minor and easily overcome (see below) but are concerning given the relatively young age of the game.
Ratings
Originality Re-play Value Compatibility Visual Quality Sound Quality
10/10 9/10 7/10 7/10 8/10
Total Score
82%
The game seemed to take forever to get released but I consider this to be to the games credit as it resulted in a highly polished product. The game almost operates as two games in one, on one side you can play it entirely as a management sim; managing your studio to get the highest rating and unlock all the games rewards. Or alternatively you can focus on creating your own movies, this being easier to achieve in sandbox mode. The different styles of gameplay and also the unlockable rewards which include additional sets and facilities give the game a great replay value only limited really by your creativity. At first however you must play the game as a management sim as the custom script writing facility required to make your own films is unlocked as the second achievement after releasing a few pre-made films. It is also a good idea to stick to one style of play and focus on either studio management or film creation as long custom made films will limit your ability to win many of the rewards in game and therefore progress. A good strategy is to play the game through until 2020 once as a management sim to unlock as many rewards as you can, once unlocked you can then use these in sandbox mode to make your own movies.
There aren't many game which attempt to take on as much as The Movies did and fortunately it did it well, the music is good and the game includes humorous well written radio hosts and commentary on world events.
The same can't quite be said for the graphics however, although they were brilliant at release they have not aged perfectly, particularly because the game does not natively support widescreen resolutions although this can be fixed (see below) the process stretches and pixelates the graphics some what. This of course isn't a significant problem and unless you've just been playing the newest releases you may not even notice and you easily get used to things after a while.
The game also suffers some minor compatibility issues running on Windows 7 which are minor and easily overcome (see below) but are concerning given the relatively young age of the game.
Ratings
Originality Re-play Value Compatibility Visual Quality Sound Quality
10/10 9/10 7/10 7/10 8/10
Total Score
82%
Where To Get It
Amazon Play.com Ebay
Installation Instructions
Both the base game and expansion pack are installed from their CDs however the auto-play screens do not work on Windows 7. To install the game under Windows 7 you must insert the disc then open My Computer, right click on the disc drive and click open. To begin the installer double click on setup.exe.
Recommended Files
Official Patch
There is a patch available for the base game only. There was no official patch released for Stunts and Effects so only install the patch if you're not bothering with the expansion.
Base game patch 1.1
Difficulty Mods
The following files modify variables and attributes in the game which basically serve to reduce the difficulty of the game. It may sound like cheating but I would highly recommend installing the following files as they make the game a more enjoyable experience (you can always remove them at any time). To install these mods simply extract everything into the game data folder located at Program Files (x86)/Lionhead Studios Ltd/The Movies/Data.
Lot Size Mod: This mod slightly increases the size of the studio lot so you can fit more sets on it at a time, essential for Stunts and Effects! If your curious the size can be extended further by increasing the second number (259) in the 3 lines under the size portion of the file although I wouldn't recommend this. The value must be the same for every line however above 259 the game gets buggy, you can place some sets beyond 259 but the game may suddenly slow down, don't worry if this happens delete the set and it will go back to normal. If you increase any other numbers the game will crash.
Employee Mod: This mod significantly increases the number of people wanting to come and work for your studio so you no longer suffer shortages of extras or entourage members.
Social Mod: This mod significantly increases the speed at which stars form relationships which helps improve their ratings and that of their films.
There's a good selection of more difficulty reducing mods available at this blog as well as a more extensive database at filefront.
Optional Files
Changing The Screen Resolution
If you have a modern widescreen PC you may want to set a higher resolution than is available from the in game options menu. This can be done through the registry editor at your own risk, clear instructions are available from widescreengaming.net. As a word of advice if you have a large widescreen monitor (e.g. 1366x768) go for a lower width resolution for example 1280x768, this still leaves some small blank spaces on the side of the screen but avoids overly distorting the games graphics so they still look normal.
More Mods and Extra Sets
The game can be modified with extra sets and props available on the internet however they vary in quality and have a complicated installation procedure so I'm afraid I don't provide a guide for installing those here (yet anyway). If your interested in extra sets check out the links in the section below.
Recommended Files
Official Patch
There is a patch available for the base game only. There was no official patch released for Stunts and Effects so only install the patch if you're not bothering with the expansion.
Base game patch 1.1
Difficulty Mods
The following files modify variables and attributes in the game which basically serve to reduce the difficulty of the game. It may sound like cheating but I would highly recommend installing the following files as they make the game a more enjoyable experience (you can always remove them at any time). To install these mods simply extract everything into the game data folder located at Program Files (x86)/Lionhead Studios Ltd/The Movies/Data.
Lot Size Mod: This mod slightly increases the size of the studio lot so you can fit more sets on it at a time, essential for Stunts and Effects! If your curious the size can be extended further by increasing the second number (259) in the 3 lines under the size portion of the file although I wouldn't recommend this. The value must be the same for every line however above 259 the game gets buggy, you can place some sets beyond 259 but the game may suddenly slow down, don't worry if this happens delete the set and it will go back to normal. If you increase any other numbers the game will crash.
Employee Mod: This mod significantly increases the number of people wanting to come and work for your studio so you no longer suffer shortages of extras or entourage members.
Social Mod: This mod significantly increases the speed at which stars form relationships which helps improve their ratings and that of their films.
There's a good selection of more difficulty reducing mods available at this blog as well as a more extensive database at filefront.
Optional Files
Changing The Screen Resolution
If you have a modern widescreen PC you may want to set a higher resolution than is available from the in game options menu. This can be done through the registry editor at your own risk, clear instructions are available from widescreengaming.net. As a word of advice if you have a large widescreen monitor (e.g. 1366x768) go for a lower width resolution for example 1280x768, this still leaves some small blank spaces on the side of the screen but avoids overly distorting the games graphics so they still look normal.
More Mods and Extra Sets
The game can be modified with extra sets and props available on the internet however they vary in quality and have a complicated installation procedure so I'm afraid I don't provide a guide for installing those here (yet anyway). If your interested in extra sets check out the links in the section below.
Links To Other Sources
- A vast database of files including additional sets and mods.
Smoky Cogs Blog - A simple list of basic gameplay mods for the game.
8 Eyed Baby - A modding community for the game, includes additional sets and props.
Smoky Cogs Blog - A simple list of basic gameplay mods for the game.
8 Eyed Baby - A modding community for the game, includes additional sets and props.