Lionhead's Adrian Moore talks Movies with Ferrago

Hooray for Hollywood...

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Having been more than a little impressed by what we've seen of Lionhead and Activision's The Movies so far, Ferrago cornered Lead Designer Adrian Moore, to ask a few choice questions on how the game is looking as of now...

Ferrago: The premise behind The Movies is - in our humble opinion - a rather ingenious one. Who came up with the idea, and how?

AM: It was Peter's (Molyneux). He sat bolt upright in bed around 3am about January 2002 and thought "why hasn't someone made this game yet?" He contacted me and asked me if I was interested. I was sold the moment I heard the idea.

Ferrago: How accurately does the game mimic the real workings of the movie industry, and to what degree have you researched the world of showbiz?

AM: Well, there are parts that are very accurate, and there are parts that are conveniently nothing like reality. The stars have egos, they get drunk, they throw tantrums over the size of their trailers, and they fall in and out of love. The most unrealistic part is the size of the teams making movies - in reality there are best boys, key grips, gaffers, 2nd unit directors, etc. - in this game we found it was boring to hire all those people so we have camera and sound people, directors, actors and runners. There are lots of other characters in the game too but not making up a huge crew that have to get to set each day.

Ferrago: The prospect of 'sandbox' gameplay is perhaps most exciting in The Movies, how will you guarantee diversity of choice whilst at the same time ensuring the experience doesn't become too wayward?

AM: The sandbox most is really designed to let you make movies freely, without having to get the cast / crew to set, without having to worry about personalities clashing, demands for pay rises, and everything else to do with money. You can play the full game in this mode but with settings of your choice. The only things you'll miss out on are some really cool sets, special effects and costumes - you'll have to play the story mode to earn them!

Ferrago: Atmosphere, so crucial to any game worth its salt, what 'nice little touches' will you be adding to present an immersive and convincing game world?

AM: There are so many to mention, and I don't want to give away all the surprises. It is possible to read the minds of the people in the game (and it's often hilarious), there is amazing attention to detail in the game world as the studio lot goes from clean and beautiful to degraded and dirty. The sound and music is lavish and realistic, the costumes are many and reflect the era you are playing in, and some of the sets are mindblowingly epic. I'll stop there.

Ferrago: I hear that integration online will be a key part of The Movies 'experience'; tell us a little more about this side of the title.

AM: It's very simple - if you want to, you can upload the movies that you make and have them online for the world to see! Visitors can rate the movies and if you rank at the top at the end of the month you'll win a prize! It's possible to use your online money (obtained every time you upload and won in large amounts every month in you win) to download new stuff into your game.

We're really promoting the sharing of your creative efforts, and the mod-able side of the game - people can make their own scenes, costumes, props and sets and upload them for other players to download into their game.