If you’ve ever played an old Bullfrog game, or even one of Lionhead’s more recent masterpieces, you’ll feel on familiar ground here. In many ways, this is a 21^st Century take on one of my old favourites, Theme Hospital. At least, one half of it is. The other is like nothing I’ve ever seen before on PC, or anywhere else for that matter.

 This is one of those games that can suck you in, chew up the hours of your day and even keep you awake at night with the computer game equivalent of indigestion. If you are a sucker for “Theme” games and have the merest touch of a creative spark, be warned. This could ruin your life.

 TWO GAMES

 Where Black & White was two games in one, but with both driving you to the same end, The Movies is, essentially, two separate games, which you can play together, but probably will end up taking on separately, not least because the surface, Tycoon-style game has a limited amount of re-playability built in, while the sandbox movie making part is almost unlimited. Especially if the boys at Lionhead keep the mod’s and add-ons coming.

 GAME ONE

 The meat of the game is the Studio Tycoon bit. Starting in 1920, with a bare lot and bugger all staff, you have to guide your studio through movie making history; recruiting, developing, cosseting, promoting or firing actors, actresses, directors and the various staffers you will require to keep the place going. As the years go by, you will get access to newer, more contemporary and sophisticated sets; steadily advancing technology in terms of equipment, stock and editing; fancier production facilities and a changing world, with fads and fashions coming and going, and global events, such as wars, scandals and major news events. Throughout this, you will be expected, required even, to produce the films that the paying public wants to see, all the while keeping your potentially unruly stars somewhere near the straight and narrow.

 MECHANICS

 How this is done is very reminiscent of Theme Hospital. Firstly you have to build the facilities necessary for running the studio. In these you will recruit your stars, supporting actors, directors and crews, as well as the handymen and janitors you will need to keep what you build working. You will then need to build some sets where the film crews can get to work, followed by a script office so that you can get some of your guys knocking out the screenplays. Just as in Theme Hospital, you have to pay attention to the necessities of life, so you will also be building restrooms, burger stands, a bar and a restaurant, trailers for the stars to live in, trees for shade and decoration, water fountains and gash bins, park benches and lampposts etc. etc.

 GOING UP IN THE WORLD

 Your studio earns kudos from many things. The big thing being the bottom line. Your staff and facilities cost money. Your movies, assuming they are any good, earn it. The difference between the two sums is what it’s ultimately all about. However, the more famous your stars, the prettier and better run your studio lot and the more prolific the whole outfit, the better you do. Just as in Theme Hospital, there are competing studios out in town, but their relative success has fairly little effect, other than in one respect. Awards.

 Every couple of years there is an Awards Ceremony. As time goes by, the number of categories is increased, from a basic five or six, to nearly twenty. Winning one, or more, of these trophies gives your studio a temporary advantage, such as better public reception of your films, or better behaviour from your stars. These bonuses also accrue as you hit various milestones, such as achieving a certain quality of film, or amassing a fixed amount of money.

 KEEPING IT ALL TOGETHER

 Each of your stars and directors will come with character traits and skills. The former you are stuck with, the latter you can develop. Your people may be highly strung, prone to alcohol or food addictions, hard working or bone idle. Their experience in the five genres (comedy, action, horror, romance and sci-fi) will vary, at least until you can train them up a bit. Also, their “genre fit” will depend a lot on their age (about which little can be done) and looks, where you can muck around a little.

 Working will gradually stress your actors and directors. Some more so than others. Stressed people don’t work so well and their efforts will not be so well received by the paying public. You can try to keep the stress down by not over-employing people, keeping them “in genre”, working with people they get on with or just dumping them in the bar to get sloshed. If you do this last in the middle of the movie, its production will be put back (increasing costs and the stress on the rest of the crew) and the guy (or gal) will be pissed on set, but ultimately it may all work out.

 Stars need a bit of mollycoddling when resting. A nice trailer, with trees and somewhere to sit, plus a fancy car and maybe a statue or something, will go a long way to keeping them in the manner they require. It won’t harm their public profile either.

 CHANGING THINGS

Your stars age with the studio. Faces wrinkle, waists expand, hair recedes and greys. Plus, the clothes they wear fall out of fashion. What to do? Well, you get access to a Make Over facility early on, where you can adjust costume, hairstyles and makeup. Later you can build some more interventionist stuff, such as a liposuction clinic, or somewhere you can pump up an actresses “self esteem”, if you get my drift. You can’t hide this sort of thing forever of course, and in the end, if you don’t fire them first, your stars, directors and supporting cast will reach the end of the road and retire.

END OF THE ROAD.

 The game pretty much ends in about 2005. At least, in terms of the timeline. Once you’ve hit the “end”, your science chaps will have nothing left to develop. There will be no more new sets or costumes and world events will no longer have much sway on the public’ tastes. However, you can continue to make movies, hire and fire, prettify your lot and rake in the money, should you so desire.

 GAME TWO

 In about 1930, game time, you get access to the Advanced Movie Maker. Prior to this, your movies are knocked together by the program, often making little sense and over which you have little creative control. Once you get to play with the AMM, however, this all changes. Instead of taking the scripts your writers produce and simply plunking them into Casting, you drop one into the AMM and begin crafting your very own flick, using a sometimes frustrating but ultimately very clever interface.

 PEOPLE

 First you cast the movie. Depending on the level of script you’ve chosen, there will be up to three main characters, plus a varying number of extras. In the completely free-form option, you start with a blank slate. Otherwise you can start off with a genre and adapt the suggested scenes and basic layout provided by the game. Whether you have a good idea of what you are aiming to achieve or are making it up as you go along, the tools are pretty simple to use and it gets easier with practice.

PLACES

Next you choose your set. You can pick one you don’t have, though you’ll have to build it in your studio before it can be shot. Some sets will have options, such as backdrop, lighting, weather and so on, and many you will be able to dress with props.

 ACTION

 So what do you want your actors to do? Once you’ve picked the venue, the program offers you a large number of alternative scenes for your people to act out. Not every set has every option obviously, but whatever location you choose, there will be many choices. They are parcelled up under a number of headings, such as “introduction”, “pursuit”, “resolution” and “loving”. About ten in all. Under each of these there will be numerous options, including the number of actors. Once you have selected your scene, you will be faced with a number of artistic choices. A fight, for instance, can be graded from mild to ultra-violent. A romantic scene can vary between mild and steamy. Resolutions of arguments, discussions or chases can be adjusted, along with the lighting, camera positions and mood of your characters.

 COSTUMES

 This is a little tricky at first. Your actors will rock up on set in the rig you’ve accoutred them in for daily walking out. To change their default clothes, you grab the actor from the casting screen and drop them in wardrobe, which is essentially the same as the Makeover department out on the lot. You then select from a wide range of costumes, hairstyles, make-up, jewellery and the rest to achieve the effect you want. You can then save this to the custom section of the wardrobe, making it easier to find later. To change costume for just a scene, or selection of scenes, you move the actor from that scene into wardrobe. You will have to do this for each scene where the default is not required. Get it wrong and your actors will be switching clothes like they’re in a fashion show and you’ll lose the effects you were after.

 GETTING IT IN THE CAN

 This happens in game. Once you’ve selected all the scenes you want, mucked around with the various options and ensured that everyone is wearing the right gear, you go back to the studio and proceed in the usual way. Your stars will already be assigned in the casting office, but you’ll still need to pick a director and choose your extras. Once rehearsal is complete, you send it for shooting and off everyone will go.

 A word here on the mechanics of movie making. Whether it’s your own script or the program’s, a movie will be shot in “real time” on the appropriate sets, in scene order. You can watch this going on, with even a little adjustment possible while the shooting is in progress. Each scene will take a finite length of time to complete and then the crew will move on to the next one. Should another movie be using the set you require next, then shooting will be delayed. Likewise if the director or one of the actors disappears to the heads or for a quick sharpener in the bar.

 As in Theme Hospital, you need therefore to put some thought into set placement. Grouping all the Sci-fi, or Action sets, for instance, will reduce the amount of time the crew spend moving around the lot. If you can avoid jumping between sets when you put the thing together, all the better, as setting up and striking take time too.

 The game usually has around 4-10 scenes per film, while my average is more like 30 when I get creative (check out this movie I made earlier). This takes about 4-5 years of game time to shoot, all the while tying up resources that could otherwise be creating wealth, so make sure you have a good bank balance before shooting an epic and the ability to keep a stream of low budget, cheap ‘n cheerful  potboilers pumping out.

 THE DIRECTOR’S CUT

 Next you go to post production. Here you can cut and move scenes, add fade-ins and fade-outs, captions, music, sound effects and even voices. Apparently the actors will lip-synch’ to your inputs, though I’ve not tried it yet. There are music and sound effects already in the game, but you can add your own if you wish, though beware Copyright! Once you’ve chopped things around to your satisfaction, you “export” the movie, thereby saving it as an MPEG file on your hard drive. It is now ready for uploading to The Movies website, where it can be viewed and commented on by all and sundry. There are regular competitions and you get rewards you can put towards downloaded costumes, props and so on.

 In a way this is Game Three. The whole online community thing is pretty extraordinary. It’s well worth a regular visit, though once you’ve seen some of the movies people are producing out there, you may not feel up to trying to do your own. Or then again, perhaps it will spur you on to greater things.

 GAMEPLAY STUFF

 The graphics are great, both in the studio and the movie making area. It’s huge fun to watch your people go about their daily grind and there are some lovely touches, just as in all Bullfrog/Lionhead games. However, you’ll frequently be so busy (as in all Bullfrog/Lionhead games) that  you won’t have time to get down with your folks, which is a real pity. Perhaps as you play your fourth or fifth game, you’ll have the mechanics so pat that you can afford the time off, but in your first couple of attempts, you’ll miss probably 80% of it.

 The interface is OK. Early on, when you have only eight or so actors and directors, each one is represented by a picture on the left of the screen. It is thus easy to zoom to, pick up or investigate your main characters. A right-click on their icon (or physical form) will give you the full Monty, so you can see how they feel about their salary, trailer, fellow actors, image and so on. How you go about improving their weak areas is for you to discover with experience.

 The problem comes when your stable increases beyond eight, and the pictures are replaced with names. Clicking on a name will bring up the picture, and it will stay up for a little while, but it becomes much more complicated finding the person you want.

 The movie making side is very well implemented, with clear and intuitive controls. If in doubt, you just “follow the streams” of glittery light to the program’s recommended option. The AMM takes some getting to grips with, but once you’ve mastered it, you have an extraordinary amount of freedom and control. If Lionhead could be persuaded to either come up with some more Scenes, or allow us to construct them from scratch (character placement and choreography, interactions and actions and so on), the options would rapidly approach infinity.

 STUNTS

 An add-on pack, Stunts and Effects, came out a few months after the main game. As well as adding some sets (such as blue and green screens), a bunch of new scenes and controllable camera angles, you are now able to recruit stuntmen to double for your stars in some pretty dramatic scenes. You can also now build a hospital for putting things right when the stunts go wrong.

 SUMMARY

 The base game is a clever, nicely presented and complex Tycoon sim’. There’s some re-playability, but in the end you are going to have it cracked and then it will get pretty boring. The Movie making side is where the real gold lies. No-one has produced anything like it and as a visit to the website will confirm, it permits the creation of some truly staggering movies.

 Sadly the great unwashed didn’t appreciate the finer points of this remarkable piece of software and it failed to sell in anything like the numbers needed. As a result, Peter Molyneux had to give up the dream of totally independent production that he’d nurtured since Bullfrog days, and sell the studio out to bloody Microsoft. Which only goes to prove that, like governments, the people get the games they deserve!