So I decided to see if my old movies were up and running just to find out that The Movies Online site ist kaput!   I am sadden by this but life goes on I suppose.  I am just glad to have not re-installed the movies without checking here first.  I wonder if the economy is hitting lionhead..because it looks like it.


oh well, thanks for all the movies created by various players over the years.  and thanks for watching my epics!!

if there is a community still alive I would love to check it out.


-MJM182 productions (CLOSED?! )

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-=Majicman182 Productions=-

Hey!

Yeah, we were all saddened to see TMO's curtains finally drawn, but it aint over until the fat lady sings.
A lot of the guys and gals who still make movies have moved over to these forums. And Ken, who runs the TMOA radio station, was kind of enough to set up TMUnderground.com where you can still upload movies.

So don't worry, the community is still around. They've just moved away from Lionhead is all. Might want to reconsider installing the game.

---

The only thing worse than beating a dead horse is betting on one.

I wouldn't attribute it to the economy since Lionhead is out of England.  They just decided to spend all their time and effort on their other titles (mainly Fable 2) and since 'The Movies' didn't sell as well as they wanted they treated us like the *** stepchild.

Even though there was a strong enough showing on TMO, there were also many restrictions as you may remember that limited what you could do with your films.  No outside editing programs allowed, no this, no that, no the other thing and on and on.  Uploading movies to sites like TMU, Veoh, Blip.tv and other sites, you could do more with a film and be more creative.  Also, combining programs such as MovieStorm, iClone, Ulead and others has allowed a boom in a new generation of filmmakers.  In fact, my latest film would not have been allowed on TMO.

The 'Movies' community is still around as Del said.  We have just moved locations.  You would be amazed at what has been put out since Lionhead gave up on us. 

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Come see my work on TMU

http://www.tmunderground.com/Harb40

hmm maybe I will make some new movies then... it is just too bad my epics are lost for all time that I uploaded on TMO... I will register at the new site then.  Thank you all for your support!!

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-=Majicman182 Productions=-

Yep, TMO's gone. It had a run, longer than we anyone should have expected. Still, there's quite a surprising number of people who have taken TMO's closure as a personal insult for some reason. I can't help but think that people are being a bit too harsh on Lionhead for doing what they had no other choice but to do.

Harb40:

and since 'The Movies' didn't sell as well as they wanted they treated us like the *** stepchild.

People say this a lot, but no one ever seems to explain what they actually mean by this. Lionhead is a games company, they make games. So why do people get upset that Lionhead was busy making games instead of looking after every request people had for The Movies? What did they do that was so bad for The Movies players anyway? They closed down TMO? Lionhead's a business, if something's not cost effective and it's putting so much strain on you it has to go. Having it up at all and keeping it up as long as they did is generous, not treating people badly. It was impossible to keep up anyway, it kept on crashing on an almost weekly basis. As well as that (if we're going in for emotive and extravagant language now) lots of people had already abandoned Lionhead in favour of TMU whilst the folks at Lionhead were trying to fix TMO for us all, despite the fact there was no gain whatsoever in it and would have taken lots of time and money. How's that for neglecting the community? Seems the community wasn't too bothered then though.

Even though there was a strong enough showing on TMO, there were also many restrictions as you may remember that limited what you could do with your films.  No outside editing programs allowed, no this, no that, no the other thing and on and on.

All restrictions seem to have been there either because it would be near enough impossible to do what people wanted or would make no sense. Most of these restrictions were put in place by Activision anyway.




When TMO went down is was the end of an era for all of us. There are places like TMU for you to upload your movies now though, so there should be no problems.

I'm going to be honest and say, I never really participated in the online aspect of The Movies much. I did make one or two rather successful online movies, but I had endless more fun just playing the management side of the game.

It was a monstrous battle that took lots of effort to finally get that five star studio and that five star actor (the five star movie was easy as pie) in order to unlock the final sets without cheating, something I am still quite proud of and even still have screenshots of.

The Movies was one of those games that I could never find anything to complain about, it was one big joy to play from start to finish and I am very happy I bought it...

On a side note, I just wanted to point out that although I am not trying to make fun of the gentleman who wrote the quote below, it did make me laugh out loud...

Harb40:

I wouldn't attribute it to the economy since Lionhead is out of England.

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Undead---God:

Yep, TMO's gone. It had a run, longer than we anyone should have expected. Still, there's quite a surprising number of people who have taken TMO's closure as a personal insult for some reason. I can't help but think that people are being a bit too harsh on Lionhead for doing what they had no other choice but to do.

Harb40:

and since 'The Movies' didn't sell as well as they wanted they treated us like the *** stepchild.

People say this a lot, but no one ever seems to explain what they actually mean by this. Lionhead is a games company, they make games. So why do people get upset that Lionhead was busy making games instead of looking after every request people had for The Movies? What did they do that was so bad for The Movies players anyway? They closed down TMO? Lionhead's a business, if something's not cost effective and it's putting so much strain on you it has to go.

 

OK, I'll explain. 

Longer than we should have expected?  Seems as if other game franchises (Sims, Civilization, Rollercoaster Tycoon, etc.) have been around longer and are still enjoying great success.   Had no other choice?  Lionhead had many choices but decided to go with not supporting 'The Movies'.  Not cost effective and putting a strain on them?  this was a self imposed strain by not continuing the initial support they showed.  It only took a year for them to lose interest in the people who bought their product.

If I had a company that produced a product that I wanted to be a success, I would try to do everything possible to get the word out on my product.  I would advertise in print, maybe on television and radio, but I would advertise..'The Movies' had very little to virtually no advertising within the United States.  I saw 2 print ads for the game but nothing else.  The ads were 2 months apart.  Not very marketing.  We were not upset that Lionhead made other games, what we were disappointed in was that they decided that 'The Movies' was a lost cause even though people are still buying the game as of today and are joining the community without ever having the opportunity to experience what we did.  Although, experiences are subject to the times and not everyone will have the same experience.  But, those that buy the game today are being cheated out of the initial online experience that comes with the game.

In my local area, (3 major cities [about 10 suburbs] with a combined population of about 1 million people) I know of at least 100 copies of 'The Movies' that were sold just from 4 stores.  I have yet to run into anyone that has a copy either online or in person.  (If I travel 30 minutes south [another state], there are about 10 people I have seen online)  Some probably bought it for the novelty, some lost interest right away and others probably still use it but are not posting online.  I would assume that for my area about 1000 copies were distributed.  Most sold out within a few months but the shelves were either barely restocked ot not restocked at all.  Why?  Did Lionhead decide that the initial production run was sufficient and decided not to produce more copies?  Or was it something else?

Lionhead Studios put out an expansion pack.  It sold (to what degree and what amount I do not know) and people enjoyed it.  Suggestions were made for future expansions.  It was made clear there would be no further expansion and we would have to fend for ourselves.  Companies Like Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Atari and others would listen to the community and try to work with them (hence the success of the Sims franchise, Rollercoaster Tycoon series and others).  It seems as if Lionhead only put out 'the Movies' and S&E as a test.  As soon as the word was out Fable would be expanded (Fable2), we, the 'Movies' community felt somewhat slighted as to how we were being treated.  PM's to FLUKE, WOODY and SAM went unanswered since they were too busy with FABLE 2.

DONKIE737:

On a side note, I just wanted to point out that although I am not trying to make fun of the gentleman who wrote the quote below, it did make me laugh out loud...

 

Harb40:

I wouldn't attribute it to the economy since Lionhead is out of England.

What I meant to imply was you can't simply go off of the U.S. economy or any other countries economy as a reason a worldwide company stopped supporting a particular piece of software.  True, most countries are having trouble economically but, looking at the stores, restaraunts, bars (pubs) and other places in my area, you would be hard pressed to say the economy is in bad shape.  I hear local citizens and newscasters (and even national reporters) try to blame the whole worlds troubles on the U.S. and former President Bush.  So I just naturally assumed that is what you meant.  I apologize if I made the wrong conclusion.

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Come see my work on TMU

http://www.tmunderground.com/Harb40

Harb40:

 ....... Companies Like Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Atari and others would listen to the community and try to work with them........

 

Do Microsoft own Lionhead.......

Lionhead created a monster that got out of control. A year after is beginning it was doom to die.I will not say that the game was the problem....it was the community.

 

but hey......one of my movie is on the lionhead history page.... so I can't complain!

tasmania11:

Harb40:

 ....... Companies Like Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Atari and others would listen to the community and try to work with them........

 

Do Microsoft own Lionhead.......

Lionhead created a monster that got out of control. A year after is beginning it was doom to die.I will not say that the game was the problem....it was the community.

 

but hey......one of my movie is on the lionhead history page.... so I can't complain!

Yes, Microsoft now owns Lionhead.  But they didn't acquire it until after the damage had been done to the community support.  How is 'The Movies' a monster out of control?  I think we are thinking of 2 different programs/games if that is the case.  If you mean people liked it more than Lionhead wanted, then yes, it got out of control.  The community was not the problem.  If that was the case, TMU, DCMF, 8EYEDBABY, FRAAS and other community sites would not be as involved as they are in keeping the community together.

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Come see my work on TMU

http://www.tmunderground.com/Harb40

Harb40:

Longer than we should have expected?  Seems as if other game franchises (Sims, Civilization, Rollercoaster Tycoon, etc.) have been around longer and are still enjoying great success.

What on earth do they have to do with anything? They don't have massive servers which need constant maintenance and improvements daily. How can you say their online has been going for ages when it doesn't exist...?

Had no other choice? Lionhead had many choices but decided to go with not supporting 'The Movies'.

Such as...? Stop making games - their job - because a few people want Lionhead to pay attention to them and give them a service that can't possibly work?

Not cost effective and putting a strain on them?  this was a self imposed strain by not continuing the initial support they showed.  It only took a year for them to lose interest in the people who bought their product.

TMO was draining their money in the middle of a recession, it needed to go. Saying that anything could have been done about that by showing support of any kind to people who've already given Lionhead their money, something which would make the problem worse, isn't fair and not to be expected of any company at all.

If I had a company that produced a product that I wanted to be a success, I would try to do everything possible to get the word out on my product.  I would advertise in print, maybe on television and radio, but I would advertise..'The Movies' had very little to virtually no advertising within the United States.  I saw 2 print ads for the game but nothing else.  The ads were 2 months apart.  Not very marketing.  We were not upset that Lionhead made other games, what we were disappointed in was that they decided that 'The Movies' was a lost cause even though people are still buying the game as of today and are joining the community without ever having the opportunity to experience what we did.

What you say is the same for practically every other game that's ever existed. Most don't get adverts at all and still do brilliantly.

Companies Like Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Atari and others would listen to the community and try to work with them

I doubt it, since Microsoft owns Lionhead and EA didn't make any difference when it came to Black and White 2. If Microsoft listened to their customers they might actually have made a console which doesn't break down if you ever try to play it .

(hence the success of the Sims franchise, Rollercoaster Tycoon series and others).

You mean the destruction of? The Sims, The Sims 2 and presumably the Sims 3 aren't even half complete games at release and you need to buy Expansion Packs to get a game that feels finished. It's simply been turned into a tool for making money, and nothing like what you want from a game. You even have the privilege of buying expansoin packs that are just adverts for Ikea or H&M. Roller Coaster Tycoon was abused in a similar way, hence Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 which wouldn't even be able to qualify as an EP of the first. All it was was the first game, a few new rides and adverts for everyone they could get adverts off. 

PM's to FLUKE, WOODY and SAM went unanswered since they were too busy with FABLE 2.

To be honest I think it's more to do with the fact that they can't do anything about it. They work for Lionhead, they don't decide what goes on. spamming their inboxes isn't going to do anything if they've already taken the idea to Lionhead and it's been rejected.

I truly believe nobody is to blame. Having to find someone responsible for a perceived injustice is a childlike pursuit. Or perhaps everybody is to blame, if I'm going to be overly pessimistic for a second;

Perhaps Lionhead are to blame for not realising they hadn't just made a Tycoon simulator with an unlockable movie maker attached. They'd actually made a tool for machinima. Thus, they couldn't give the support that people wanted, they hadn't planned for the hardcore response.

Perhaps Activision are to blame for how they handled the publishing and how they raped the TMO site by willy nilly removing movies they thought would send lawsuits there way.

Perhaps Microsoft are to blame. You know, just because we like to blame them. Also Jamie Durrant is gonna try suing them, so they must be bad.

Perhaps the community is to blame for having unreasonable expectations on the upload site and on a company that is clearly in it to make games, not tools for making movies.

And perhaps I'm to blame. I don't know why I would be, if you really need to vent your rage and anger at an upload site being taken offline on someone, I'm probably as guilty as any. Because I, uh. Uh. Stopped using it...or something. Maybe I'll just tell everyone I blackmailed Lionhead to get rid of it because I hate you all. Yes, I think I'll run with that.

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The only thing worse than beating a dead horse is betting on one.

deliriousstudios:

I truly believe nobody is to blame. Having to find someone responsible for a perceived injustice is a childlike pursuit. Or perhaps everybody is to blame, if I'm going to be overly pessimistic for a second;

Perhaps Lionhead are to blame for not realising they hadn't just made a Tycoon simulator with an unlockable movie maker attached. They'd actually made a tool for machinima. Thus, they couldn't give the support that people wanted, they hadn't planned for the hardcore response.

Perhaps Activision are to blame for how they handled the publishing and how they raped the TMO site by willy nilly removing movies they thought would send lawsuits there way.

Perhaps Microsoft are to blame. You know, just because we like to blame them. Also Jamie Durrant is gonna try suing them, so they must be bad.

Perhaps the community is to blame for having unreasonable expectations on the upload site and on a company that is clearly in it to make games, not tools for making movies.

And perhaps I'm to blame. I don't know why I would be, if you really need to vent your rage and anger at an upload site being taken offline on someone, I'm probably as guilty as any. Because I, uh. Uh. Stopped using it...or something. Maybe I'll just tell everyone I blackmailed Lionhead to get rid of it because I hate you all. Yes, I think I'll run with that.

Well put.  I think that is all that needs to be said on this subject then.

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Come see my work on TMU

http://www.tmunderground.com/Harb40

deliriousstudios:

.

....And perhaps I'm to blame. I don't know why I would be, if you really need to vent your rage and anger at an upload site being taken offline on someone, I'm probably as guilty as any. Because I, uh. Uh. Stopped using it...or something. Maybe I'll just tell everyone I blackmailed Lionhead to get rid of it because I hate you all. Yes, I think I'll run with that.

 

so...it was you.....

I do miss watching the movies I made for two years and there will sadly never be a game like "The Movies" again I feel....   If only there was some way that Lionhood could make a Movies 2 or something to that effect.   I really do miss creating.

The one game with massive replay value and they pull it... go figure.  Guess English Companies are just as greedy and corrupt as American ones..hench the current economy.


-Majicman182

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-=Majicman182 Productions=-

Don't fret.  Even though you are more into the tycoon side of 'The Movies', you're still welcome to join us at TMU.

We have a community over there with some wonderful people.  Not only do we support 'The Movies' but MovieStorm, iClone, Poser and live action filming.  Even if you don't want to release any more films, maybe you can lend support in other ways.  Movie reviewer, voice actor, general helpful community member.  We have alot of fun and Kuroken (Ken) and Roger have a weekly radio show on Sundays from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. EST over on TMOA.  Just download the radio toolbar or follow the links on the right hand side of the page to join in the fun.  Don't forget about the chatroom too.

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Come see my work on TMU

http://www.tmunderground.com/Harb40

Harb40:

'The Movies' had very little to virtually no advertising within the United States.  I saw 2 print ads for the game but nothing else.  The ads were 2 months apart.  Not very marketing. 

Very very wrong. The Movies aired multiple commercials pre-release. When was the last time you saw a television commercial for a computer game? Lionhead went above and beyond in their advertsing.

It's just very niche software. PC gaming isn't where the market is currently, let alone tycoon sims and movie making software.

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The only thing worse than beating a dead horse is betting on one.

Whoa...im so drunk!!! etc...



ok so I would love to share my insane mind with the Remants of the British Empire once more but...I cannot install my game anymore... my DVD player is corrupt or something... and no place to download it but hacked/cracked versions...and I am anti-piracy on video games.        So...the end of Majicman182 creativity for now...may god have mercy on our souls!

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-=Majicman182 Productions=-

If we get lucky maybe we will see the movies made using natal. You know like motion capture or something.

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Raising children is easy. Between TV and the internet kids almost raise themselves. - Homer Simpson

heroicalarm:

If we get lucky maybe we will see the movies made using natal. You know like motion capture or something.

Ha!  With the money it made?  Not a chance.

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guitarscout:

heroicalarm:

If we get lucky maybe we will see the movies made using natal. You know like motion capture or something.

Ha!  With the money it made?  Not a chance.

It didn't make much money because it was on the pc. PM already stated that was the reason they didn't make much money on it. If natal is enough to do motion capture, they may put something similar to the movies out on natal. Not saying the characters would have to all look perfect. They could go for a more anime style or something like that. Doing that should make the game cheaper to make than spending all that time making them all look super real.

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Raising children is easy. Between TV and the internet kids almost raise themselves. - Homer Simpson

Great, the Xbox fanboys infiltrate yet another subforum.

The Movies would not work on the consoles. It would fail completely.

The reason it didn't sell wasn't because of the PC, in fact the PC was the best platform for the game.

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The only thing worse than beating a dead horse is betting on one.

heroicalarm:

It didn't make much money because it was on the pc.

That is yet another load of crap I heard this week from a fanboy.

The reason The Movies didn't sell well was because there was barely any advertising for it.  There weren't many commercials for it on TV.  In fact, I maybe saw 3 of them them a couple weeks before it came out.  Game sites advertised it, but not as long as most games.

If it was advertised a little more before its release, then it would have done a hell of a lot better.
But to say that it was "because it was on PC", you need to think and research before you speak.

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i think the art of making movies with the game will die when everyone looses interest. (i.e. myself.)

 

i think it was because of 4 things.

 

1:i could never get mods to work.

2:my ban from tmo.

3:change in interests.

and

4:the death of tmo.

 

i mean shure we have TMU, but i think the final curtan WILL close when everyones interest in the game fades. but hopefully that won't happen.

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ROCK ON!