Players who have been playing Movie Business for many years, observing the changes in the game over time and playing many games, have already immersed themselves in its universe and know the rules and principles that govern it well. The biggest fans were able to catch even inaccuracies or errors in the logic behind it (which is not simple and depends on many elements – I'm impressed).
From time to time, however, there are comments from new players, which prove that although MB2 is a relatively simple game, not all the rules in it are clear and obvious, especially at the very beginning of dealing with this title.
Hence the need to create a kind of introduction to the world of the Movie Business, which is this text.
But let's get straight to the point; this is not a guide on how to produce good movies in the Movie Business, but rather an attempt to present the main assumptions of the game world, which may not be obvious at first glance, and which are worth knowing to produce the movies you dreamed of.
Before I get into the details, however, a few general considerations about the game itself.
Game vs reality
Right from the beginning I will refer to the realism of the game. A topic that is often raised by novice players.
One of the more interesting definition of realism in games at which I met was, more or less, Yes (I can't find the source from where it came, so I quote from memory).
Realism in games is the removal of everything that is boring from reality.
Guided by this principle, the goal of the Movie Business was not too literal mapping of the nuances of reality, but rather focusing on the best possible mapping of the general principles governing the world of cinema and movies.
Here are some examples to illustrate this approach.
Euros, Pounds, Dollars…
Many players wonder what currency is used in the game. Well, the answer is very simple…no specific one. They are neither PLN nor USD, not even EUR. Why… so that no one would think of comparing earnings, budgets or revenues from movies with their real counterparts. You have specific means and you use them in the game world, which is governed by its own laws.
Kali steal good, steal from Kali is bad - about realism
One of the iconic figures of the Polish literature named Kali from the "Desert and in the Forest" had this famous maxim which refers to the fact that many people consider what is right everything which fits their mind (or from which they get some profits).
The thing with "Realism" is that many players demand it only selectively. When it concerns elements that are not meant by the player, it suddenly turns out that this is not "realism" but "error in the game".
An example here is the artificial intelligence and computer players.
Many players ask why – computer players have more money, and even if they do a few bad movies, they can still make movies with great losses
Dear young film producers remember a thing ...
Generally, all people are equal... only not always, not everywhere and not in everything.
In business (not just the film one) there is no concept of equal opportunities. There is always a competition that started playing in the industry in which we operate, much earlier. Has more resources, better contacts in other words, more possibilities. The basic rule of business... don't focus on the competition ... concentrate on yourself to best run your own business.
Ratings of artists or how to interpret "stars"
Star system for presenting the various parameters in the game is used in many places. However, the importance of these stars a bit different depending on the context.
The general rule is simple. The more stars the better.
While the star rating in the description of the creator's parameters is quite intuitive, so many more questions and doubts arise when evaluating the performances of a specific creator in a given production and final evaluations of the films themselves.
Why did the film have all creators rated at 2* and as a whole was rated at 1*?
The key, which is not obvious, in this case is the information that the evaluations of the performances of the creators in a particular movie are RELATIVE. Star rating in this case means the performance of a given creator in relation to its basic capabilities.
So performance on 5* in the little-known Amateur (without photo), translated to absolute values, may be worse than the performance of talented movie stars.
Hence, when weak creators recorded a sensational performance (as for their modest capabilities), the film doesn't have to be even good.
Why a actor in one film receive 5* and in the next 1*? Are these random values?
Randomness is important, the fact that the creator has played great in some production does not mean that the same level must keep in the next. However, because the stars are relative, it absolutely means that the actor played worse, as per his standard level.
Why the game is random?
The game is not as random as it may seem at the beginning. In fact there are som elements of randomness (or actually fuzzy logic) in algorithms but thanks to this we get the effect of realism and unpredictability.
If the game was based on more static algorithms, sooner or later everyone would develop a proven method for the production of 4 or 5 * films. It is enough for the player (by chance) to leave one movie, then immediately (just like real producers) he started to generate sequels (with the same cast) that would bring the same effect. This would lead to the situation that after 5 parts of Rambo the player would have a lot of money and would say that… the game is boring.
Another issue is the fact that in the case of Movie Business we are in art domain. Art is not mathematics and it is not easy to judge or categorize it, let alone determine in advance the final effect of the work being produced. Referring to the reality, so liked by some people, it is not a rule that employing the best artists always results in an outstanding work. Probably many times you were on the films packed with great names, which turned out to be an average film, and maybe even weak. This can not be mapped with standard algorithms, and some element of randomness gives this unpredictability.
On the other hand, this approach means that you do not always need the best creators to get a very good movie and you can often be surprised by not usuall combinations of creators or genres (which sometimes can make the smile appear on the players' faces).
Thanks to fuzzy logic, you can feel the tension at the premiere of each film. You can never be sure of the final effect and it is the most intentional. Even if you make 10 good films, then 11 may be bad (as a consequence, bring losses) and you will still have to fight for survival. On the other hand, sometimes nice surprises can meet you, when a film that you didn't count occurs a great production over which critics dissolve and the audience rushes to the cinema.
This is the strength of the game.
Randomness also affects the strategy. You must always be prepared for something that will not work out.
Movie Business 2 is a game in which you do not try to produce good movies, but minimize the chance of producing bad movies.
Is it reasonable to use any strategy because of randomness?
Of course, strategies are recommended ... but these are mainly long-term strategies. Therefore, it is not worth falling into depression when your movie does not come out as good as you wish, or invest all your money into one dream production. It may turn out that it will be a flop and lost all of your money.
One of the long-term decisions that the player should take may be the way of making movies. Do you decide to commercial “movies”which will appeal to a wide audience and provide a large audience or an ambitious artistic cinema that will compete for awards at film festivals? Do you want to do intimate, independent productions or go in the direction of flashy blockbusters.
You can go after the smallest of the line of resistance to earn money on commercial productions but this will lead to restriction of the ability to create more advanced scenarios. So either you're not demanding player and earn money on commercial comedies and action films or you have the soul of the experimenter and the artist and you're trying to create more ambitious productions that have chances for prizes at festivals. Of course, you can also mix the two strategies. Movie Business 2 offers you the possibility of making such choices.
It's a game that force you for continuous thinking and experimenting ...
and not using templates and ready-made solutions.
Think about what kind of movie you want to create, that is, about genres, scenario parameters and casting
There are 23 movie genres to choose from ... and they were not made to give a sense of diversity ... they really differ. So when you choose a genre type action, and you want to make a movie in style Pirates of the Caribbean to… this is not exactly good way.
Carefully think about what kind of movie you want to create whether it is action, adventure, sci-fi, fantasy or maybe a crime story.
Each of them distributes the proportions of available parameters, the number of expected special effects, the level of the scenario or even the cast (number and / or type of people involved in the project) in a different way.
The genre is important
The selection of a genre determines many elements. It depends on it whether the script must be very good or only average is enough because a given genre does not require its highest quality of scenario. The expected number and type of creators, as well as the quantity and quality of special effects depend on the genre.
Genres can also be divided into those easier and more difficult to produce. Easier is such as comedy or action where we intuitively know how to choose parameters. It is a little harder to create a good romance or crime story that requires optimization of parameters, taking into account many criteria.
Script parameters
The game has three basic parameters characterizing the scenario on which the player has an influence: humor, violence and sex.
- Humor This is simply the amount of funny situation or dialogue, which we anticipate in the film
- Violence There is a little less intuitive because these parameter corresponds to not only for the amount of violence in the game but also the number of action scenes.
- Sex this should also be obvious. The amount of nudity and sex in the film. And exactly it is about sex and not romance, love or similar higher feelings.
Other scenario parameters include the number and type of creators and ending.
Script level
Script level is calculated based on these three parameters. And it is based on the expected value of each of these parameters for the given genres.
The selection of appropriate parameters depends on the genre and what type of film you want to make. In this case, more does not always mean better.
And what about emotions / tension?
Many players wonder how to set the emotion / tension in the movie ... the answer is simple ... it can not be set. The tension / emotions that the film evokes are dependent on the performance of individual artists. So how well did the director, actors, composer or operator materialize in the form of an emotional final effect. It distinguishes outstanding productions from the average, even with the same creators.
Sub-genres
A subgenre of the film is a parameter that determines in a little bit more detail what movie you managed to create by manipulating all its parameters. It does not have a big impact on the game, and it is rather an additional flavor that suggests what you did. In addition, it is used to generate reviews.
Critics and the audience
When we have the script and we are going to the production of the film, it is worth considering who is our target (target group). Do we want to do purely commercial production, whose main goal is to attract the largest audience to the cinema and earn a lot of cash or compete for awards at festivals creating a somewhat more ambitious film (though less popular due to less affordability).
It is known that the audiences' tastes often differ from those of critics. Therefore, the elements that each of these groups draws attention to differ from each other.
Hence, the situation may happen when the 3* film does not repay (although in theory the vast majority of such films should generate some profit). This means that you've done a decent movie but… for no one. In addition to focusing on the quality of the film, try to take into account the tastes of the audience.
Please note that most of the audience is collected by commercial films (generally not intellectually demanding). Therefore, the more ambitious the production, the smaller the audience will watch it.
The level of scenario vs target group (Target)
Of course it is good to have a good script ... but it is not an indispensable element for producing a good movie. Especially if we want to make a more ambitious work. In this case, the critics look more lightly at the level of the script because they state that his strangeness / otherness is the conscious intention of an artist who wants to break patterns and standards.
Why it is so hard to win awards
Because everyone does not win prizes. This is a distinction you need to earn hard for. So if you want to get an Oscar right away with your first movie, you have very little chance for it ...
The mere fact of promotional costs associated with a given festival should give the player some food for thought. Am I sure that my film has a chance to win a given prize? Is this a movie made for this particular film festival? Let's face it, Oscars do not get the best movies ... they get movies that were evidently filmed under the preferences of the academy.
So in Movie Business, each of the festivals has their own preferences related to nominations and subsequent prizes. That is why it is quite difficult to make a film that will win the prize at each festival (although it is not impossible).
What to do when the movie occurs a flop?
Just don't break down and analyze why the film has not met hopes placed in it. Was it a problem with his concept, bad selection of creators or their poor performance.
The most common reasons for the movie is not the player's thoughts.
Bad assumptions
You have not completely thought about what film you want to shoot for, even though the actors played well and the critics gave up 3*, the movie does not pay back .... Well, if you made a horror without age restrictions, artistic family movie from 15 years old or commercial gay porn with elderly actors ... it's hard to count on crowds besieging movie halls ....
Improper selection of cast
all the creators had good ratings, and yet the film was poorly rated ... maybe you just did not match the creators (they had too low predispositions for a given type of film or lacked talent). It is important here to select the creators for a particular type of film, where talent is also important and should not be completely ignored.
Poor performance of artists
you have a good script, you've chosen the creators well with decent parameters, and so critics marks are low ... read the review and check how the creators in your production have worked maybe this time their performance was below their nominal abilities.
Overinvestment
I already have 100 million and I can do everything ... so I choose a drama with 7 actors, each of them is a world leader, famous and cult names I choose the best director ... of course I intend an intensive advertising campaign ... and gets a 3* film that brings 50 million .... losses ... why?
The player begins to behave like a typical Hollywood producer who, having a cosmic budget thinks that choosing the top names itself will make the film bring mountain of gold... but forgets about the costs ... and the sense of their incurring .... do you really need an actor who costs 5 million ... or in a drama studio for 20 million with postproduction ... yes, you can get out of this megablockbuster ... but when the film turns out only average losses can be severe ...
All the time I miss cash and my movies are bad ... The game is too difficult…
The game is not as difficult as it may seem at first. In addition to familiarizing yourself with the basic principles of the world (meaning reading this text) try:
- think and experiment
- analyze your movies (after the premiere)
- if your strategy does not work ... change it
- if one film didn't meet your expectation it still proves nothing
- Consider what kind of effect you want to achieve and how it can done using mechanisms available in the game
- consider the behavior of the audience and the critics
- choose creators according to the script and type of production, do not forget about their talent
- not always more is better
- you do not need to hire expensive stars to make a good movie
- not all types of films must have spectacular special effects
- you do not always have to make a good movie to make you profit, average (but properly targeted movies) can bring decent profits
- Avoid extremes at the beginning of the game when you do not have the feel and the right resources to compensate for possible production failures. Film with only one, or with maximum 7 actors, with all the parameters set to minimum or maximum values, only anime in the case or lack of professional actors in the cast ... are risky moves.
You really do not need to hire a top star from Hollywood to make good movies. Of course, such a strategy can also bring positive effects (although in the initial phase, when you have limited resources, it will be quite difficult), this is not only the right approach to making movies. Unconventional experiments are also often surprising. Analysis and long-term strategy with multi-criteria optimization are the key to success.
Tomiga, why don't you write specifically how to create good movies!
Because I'm from a generation when the game you had to know without a manual. Where it was fun to find the mechanics of the game, and the games were some challenges for thinking and combining. MB is not a game to where at first time you'll get good results right away, it's a game that requires patience and creativity.
That's why it's a game for real cinema lovers.
I hope that this text will help beginners find themselves in the game and make it not too frustrating in its initial phase.
Movie Business is not just another, simple game in the style of those you find on Facebook. It has a lot of depth in itself, which you can not see at first glance ... so try to think, experiment and not give up when something does not go out right away ... it's a game for creative people and… the patient.
That's the title of the introduction, more information about the rules of the game can be found in the section Help page.