General / Off-Topic Frontier: The Movies???

David T-Rex

David T-Rex
Came across this on a site - think it could be a good choice. I for one support this idea. I did used to have this and thought it was great.. would love a reboot/new version❤︎of something similar.

Frontier Developments: Consider Buying The Rights To The Movies!
http://gametyrant.com/news/an-open-letter-to-frontier-developments

Dear Frontier Developments,
I'd like to take a moment to thank you for making a number of exceptional games during my childhood which have furthered my ambitions to become a Game Developer thanks to their realistic mechanics and little attention to detail things have made them stand out from the crowd. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and Thrillville: Off The Rails are predominate favourites, I could still contently play either for hours at a time without getting bored or losing interest... More recently I've been just as captivated by Elite: Dangerous and Planet Coaster.
A Theme Park wouldn't want me designing rides despite my years of in-game experience, based on my tendency to make roller-coasters full of sheer 90° drops (some of which in spiral or loop the loop form) which would most probably cause riders more fear and nausea than excitement, and potentially deal dangerous amounts of G-Force. Despite my lack of knowledge on how to properly build roller-coasters people actually want to ride... I've played games for almost two and a half decades, of the substantial amount of simulation games I've played, one thing I'm sure is that you continue to make some of the most immersive, realistic and enjoyable games in the genre.
More than a decade ago, Lionhead studios released their business simulation game, The Movies. It allowed the player to take charge of their own Hollywood Studio throughout the 1960s to 2020s by placing down sets, and casting, screenwriting and production offices, then employing the relevant people to write, shoot and star in the next potential blockbuster movie. Although, the best thing to do was to use the Custom Screenplay Creator to storyboard their own movies using simple and advanced tools probably best comparable to Source Filmmaker or Grand Theft Auto V's Video Editor. Lots of fans still do use these tools to create their own movies, most of which are uploaded to YouTube.

More on the site...
Click to expand...

For those that are not aware of it
[video=youtube;BTIES4BLOSs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTIES4BLOSs[/video]
 
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cerealfruitcakes

cerealfruitcakes
I really liked The Movies, that was such a refreshing tycoon game that I wish we got to see it grow into a successful series. I can definitely imagine seeing the style of Planet Coasters guests with Planco language being a blast to make for Frontier's animators.
 

SoapyIllusion

SoapyIllusion
Good Ole Lionhead, before they were awful. What a great little game. It was a wild development cycle for the game. Went through many delays.

If their ever were a sequel I'd like to see a more indepth movie maker. Similar to that done in Microsoft 3d Movie Maker. Maybe have a basic mode that resembles the classic format of the game and a more advanced version that incorporated the tools used in 3dMM. With the widespread use of Youtube. The game could go over really really well.

It be a costly game to develop. A lot of tools.
 

Abletudu

Abletudu
I used to have this game and really liked it. If Frontier did something similar, I think it would end up with an Oscar. [yesnod]
 

SoapyIllusion

SoapyIllusion
The other issue with this is asking the question who owns "The movies" IP? Was it lionhead IE Microsoft or is it Activision. Either of those companies rarely give up IPs , If they do it comes at a heavy price. A price that Frontieer probably couldnt work with to make a profit. Or would have to allow Activision or Microsoft to publish it... Which goes against Frontieers new objectives with game content.
 

Serpentrax

S
I enjoyed The Movies for what it was worth. The game had tons of charm, Lionhead nailed the mood of artificial giltter, glamour and magic of Hollywood. From a creative standpoint it was pretty shallow, you could choose a set, customes and actors but after a few shoots your movies become repetitive since the animations were clearly the same all the time. You needed a lot of imagination to fill the gaps and in that regard the game was hardly more complex than those Game Dev Story/Studio/ Tycoon games from a decade later. Yet I found it oddly satisfying to come up with clever titles and make endless strings of cash-grabbing sequels to them even though the film directing was pretty boring. It also included a out-of-the-box sharing portal way before Steam Workshop was even a thing.

I absolutely agree that this game deserves a modern sequel, and maybe Frontier and the PlanCo Universe is suited for that. One of the things I found lacking in the original was the lack of customization. As mentioned all movies eventually start to look the same since you were basically just chaining a series of prefab scenes and choose from a limited array of backgrounds, costumes and props to fill the scenes.

Imagine the possibilities if we were able to build our own sets from scratch with the building tools from PC, and fully cusotmize camera movement and actor positions in them. As mentioned in the thread Frontier really struck gold with the animations, faux language and art style in PlanCo, so I foresee no worries there.

Your custom designed sets remain on the lot after the film is shot and can be reused or refitted for future films. Why not open them up for visitors and tours or even let us make dedicated rides based on our own movies? Yes, your studio becomes a themepark and therefore Planet Movies fits right into the Planet Coaster Universe as a sequel to both The Movies and Planet Coaster! Yeah it should have been named Planet Hollywood but that name was taken.

Oh I was dreaming again, wasn't I?
 
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WickedDjinn

W
This would certainly be an amazing treat! I would love to see an updated version of this game that I can actually play with Windows 10 and beyond
 

Abletudu

Abletudu
I agree that Frontier would make an excellent version of this game and we could have a clip of the words "Planet Movies" revolving around the globe at the beginning of all our movies like Universal does with theirs.
 

Mattcus

M
Yes! Yes! Yes! I've recently been replaying the hell out of The Movies and would absolutely love a sequel or spiritual successor! Frontier would be the perfect developer to do it! I love their style for Planet Coaster and their building mechanics are incredible as well! I want this to happen so badly! Please Frontier! Make a Movies game!
 

redrum

redrum
If a movie-making game emerges, I hope it has nothing to do with the old game "The Movies"! [pirate] . I had the platinum edition including stunts expansion. Too many bugs and limitations, then they stopped supporting it. Now it remains unplayable on a modern PC. I think you need Windows XP before you have a hope of getting it to install properly from the dvd disc. While it did have potential, the sandbox aspect was restrictive. Unique shot sequences were possible, but the game did not permit all features in sandbox mode, which was frustrating. Sold the disc on ebay for $2.
 

Mattcus

M
Basically every problem you mentioned is simply because it's an older game. For one The Movies runs fine on my Windows 10 PC, though it's not from a disk, but that's irrelevant for a modern remake, and besides, I would hope Frontier would add their own unique spin on it anyway, I just want the core gameplay to be the same, managing a studio, not just the making movies part, but placing the sets, hiring stars and crew, managing the stars, watching them make movies, award shows, the lot. Most other "Movie Studio" tycoon games, are just a bunch of 2d screens, graphs and numbers. I love decorating my studio lot, watching everyone run around with equipment as they go from set to set, making a movie. I would hope a modern remake by Frontier would have all that and more!
 

LN

LN
I would love to see a "Planet Movie" game.

Building your own sets with assets would be great.
 

Mattcus

M
Planet Coster Studios DLC

So they just announced the new DLC as Planet Coaster Studios, and this could have been the perfect opportunity to add “The Movies” Style gameplay to game, however it just seems like it includes some new props, effects, animatronics and 3 new rides, no new gameplay. In fact, the incoming free update adds more new gameplay imo than the paid DLC with the inclusion of hotels.
 

Minnion

M
Mattcus said:
So they just announced the new DLC as Planet Coaster Studios, and this could have been the perfect opportunity to add “The Movies” Style gameplay to game, however it just seems like it includes some new props, effects, animatronics and 3 new rides, no new gameplay. In fact, the incoming free update adds more new gameplay imo than the paid DLC with the inclusion of hotels.
Click to expand...

Perhaps that's how the game will work going forward? New gameplay stuff being added to the base game for free with the DLCs adding new themes rides, mascots and decorations?
 
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