Let's start with the most fundamental feature: Developing ideas (for movies, the TV section is probably going to have slightly different options).
When you decide to create a new movie you have three options:
1. Buy source material. It will cost you some money, but in return comes with an inbuilt fan base, that will improve your movies chances of success. Choosing a source material as a basis for your movie script will give a predefined movie script, but of course you have the option to change it, before you start the actual writing process.
2. Create or expand a franchise. Your will be able to buy the rights to existing franchises like Harry Potter or Star Wars (if you have deep enough pockets), but you can also turn movies you've are already produced into a franchise by adding Sequels, Prequels or Spin-offs.
3. Create an original movie script . This is the option we're going to talk about in this post.
Choosing the "New Idea" Option will lead you right to the Script Development Screen, where you can mix and match different parameter to create the exact movie you have in mind.
Let's take a closer look at the options.
Title - Enter your own title or use the dice button to pick a random title from the database (Yes, of course you are able to add more titles to the database via editor)
Genre and Subgenre - A very important decision, as the Genre/Subgenre will determine your audience (based on gender and age group), but also your chances at the box office and how likely your movie is to win awards (while action or sci fi will do well at the box office, dramas are more likely to win prestigious awards)
Plot Type - Is your movie a classic good vs. evil story? A quest? A underdog story? A Rags to Riches Tale? Choose from a number of "master plots" to determine the basic story structure.
Plot Theme - What is your movies message? Is it about family? Corruption? Love? Prejudice?
Era - Instead of adding a genre for historical movies I decided to add the option to choose your era. You can simply choose present day for a contemporary movie or you can go wild. World War II? Ancient Egypt? The Future? But keep in mind, that these kind of movie need a higher budget for costumes and sets.
Setting - Pretty self-explanatory, right?
Topics - This is one of my favorite features as I haven't see it in any other game of this type. You can choose up to four topics your movie will be about. Different topics appeal to different audience groups. They will also determine the mass appeal (important for the box office) and the artistic value (important for awards). Heavier topics like domestic violence or homosexuality don't led them self to big action blockbusters, but are classic Oscar material, while other topics will draw the masses into the cinemas but will get you movie snubbed at award ceremonies.
Scope - A cozy mystery or a epic spectacle? Scope determines how big the project is. (This will also influence the production cost and length)
Tone - a depressing drama or a lighthearted adventure?
Cursing - child friendly or outright offensive? Choose carefully, as this will be one of the factors to calculate the age rating for your move.
Violence - Want to make your horror movie an absolute gore fest? You can, but keep the age rating in mind.
Love Scenes - family-friendly hand-holding or Game of Thrones style steamy sex scenes?
Special Effects - A Sci Fi or Fantasy Script will probably come with some need for special effects, but keep in mind that a high value here will require a bigger production budget for both pracitcal- and CGI effects.
Intelligence, Complexity, Dialogue, Pace, Humor, Action, Relationships - Genres have an ideal value for each of these parameters. Dramas require good dialogues but not much humor (unless you are choosing the Dramedy subgenre), Action movies require lots of action (duh!) but shouldn't be to complex. Make sure you find the right mix... and a writer with the right skills!
Roles - Want to go wild and create an epic fantasy with a cast of 50? Go ahead! There are no limitations. You can add as many roles as you want. You decide the name (or choose the random generator), the age and the gender. You also have to choose the importance: Main character, support character, minor character, cameo and voice over (for cgi characters for example). This will determine the actors salary but also how much influence the actor has on your movies quality.
What do you think? Post you feedback, criticism, ideas or any questions you might have in the comments. I'm look forward to hearing from you!
