From The Author Of Hollywood Mogul 3

[HMdesigner]

Hello,

A few weeks ago while doing a search, I came upon a "dynasty" post on this board that featured a play-by-play description of my game Hollywood Mogul.

I really enjoyed that post, and I searched this board and found a few more which I also enjoyed.

Not only were these posts interesting, but the comments to them were also interesting to me, as people followed what was happening.

I was really touched by this, and thought I might say thank you here on your board, so I became a member just so I could do that. But then I had another idea.

On Tuesday September 26, 2006, the newest version of Hollywood Mogul will be Pre-Released to my message board members. Hollywood Mogul 3 is a complete top-to-bottom rewrite.

This "Pre-Release" is a way for me to thank my message board members for their support, and their patience, as they've been waiting for HM3 for quite some time. The Pre-Release cost US$20 instead of US$29.99 when it is released wide later this year (probably December).

As I said, I really enjoyed the Dynasty posts. I wanted to express my gratitude for those posts, so ... I have received permission from your board admin to extend my HM3 Pre-Release offer to the members of THIS board as well. If you would like to download the Pre-Release version of HM3 meet me back here on Tuesday and I'll have a link for you. And here it is: http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/HM3_PR_Install.exe

*************************************************
*************************************************
BUGS:
1. The game will CRASH unless you select a Studio Logo from Player Set-Up when you start a new game.
FIXED

2. The game will CRASH when you try to open MyOwnIdea database. And MAY CRASH if you try to save My Own Idea from within the game.
FIXED

3. This one's really weird. If HM3 is NOT in the upper left corner of the computer screen (if you're displaying larger than 1024x768, the Pop-Up menus have a black background. The work-around for tonight is to move the game to the upper left corner, or change the Font Color for Pop-Up menus (within the game).
FIXED

4. There is an ERRANT bug that occurs SOMETIMES when you hire a producer or director, and I am still trying to track it down.

HM3 PATCH FILE (version 3.08.0009)
Before you download the patch file:
1. MOVE your current hm3.exe to a safe folder.
2. Find your HM3 game folder in Windows Explorer.
3. In the sub-game-folder \MstFiles
DELETE player.mst
DELETE studio.mst
4. In the sub-game-folder \SourceMyOwnIdeaDB
DELETE ALL ten MyOwnIdea .sdb files.
5. In the sub-game folder \SavedGames
DELETE ALL saved game folders (SG000, SG001, etc)

Download the patch hm3.exe to your \HM3 game folder.
HM3 Patch file here: http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/hm3.exe

*************************************************
*************************************************

Thanks for your interest.

NOTE: The Pre-Release is still a little buggy. All of the major problems have been addressed, and any errant bugs that are discovered will be fixed as soon as possible and a new .exe available free to HM3 owners. The members of my board know that in addition to getting a discount on the price, they are ALSO "test-driving" HM3 for its wide release. You should know that, too.

If you purchase the HM3 Pre-Release you own HM3, and will have access to all patches and updates for free.

Thank you for your time, and thank you for the really great Dynasty posts that featured Hollywood Mogul.

Good Luck At The Box Office,

Carey
HMdesigner

[Cuckoo]

Great news Carey. As you can probably see from several posts on here, many of us have been keeping up with the progress on HM3 and eagerly anticipating its release. Congratulations on all your hard work, and I can't wait to play the new game.

[Eaglesfan27]

Very cool. I've never registered on your board, but I've followed the game for a long time. Looking forward to the game.

[Raiders Army]

:D

[MikeVic]

I'm looking forward to the release as well. It's one of the few games I'm going to follow upon release and seeing if I like it.

[WVUFAN]

Excellent news. I might try this out.

[QuikSand]

Carey, I suspect you will find that this forum is full of people who enjoy playing, discussing, and writing about text sims -- sports or otherwise. We're well beyond just Front Office Football, obviously.

Hope you consider sticking around... and many thanks for the offer, I'm sure many here will find it enticing.

[Capital]

This is definitely game I will want to try. However, I'm glad for this pre-release because I will pick it up after the bugs have been ironed out. Hopefully, that will be after a Solecismic game has been announced.

[Antmeister]

Wow! Another developer popping up on the message board. This board should be renamed to Indie Games Central. This is very good news and I hope to hear some good reviews from fellow FOFCers.

[PraetorianX]

I once thought of doing an AAR for HM2.5

But then my computer died.

I also once thought of doing a Dynasty Report for FM (or was it back in the CM days?)...but then my computer nearly died.

I don't consider these things anymore.


That said, been waiting for HM3 with as much anticipation as I've been waiting for EUIII (or was waiting, I guess) so I'd be happy to get in on that, even with a few bugs crawling around.

Though it'll be yet another thing to steal time from EUIII Beta....:(

[Fouts]

So, in effect this is a 33.3% discount for the game? And I can just buy it and wait for the bug free version to be released?

I liked HM1, even though I sucked at it.

[ahbrady]

Sounds like a great deal. I'm in.

[Tasan]

Best news I've had in a while. This is great, I've been dieing for this game.

[SirFozzie]

Wow. See ya Tuesday. Great news

[Dutch]

My wife just informed me that regardless of what I think, the pre-release WILL be purchased. It's the only text-sim she likes and has waited a long time for an update.

So, with that, I guess I need to sign-up.

I enjoyed the game as well, but she put in way more time than I ever did into it.

[GrantDawg]

This is one of my favorite games. I'm looking forward to seeing the new version.

[Marc Vaughan]

I'm getting near GM (at which my life will return back to some semblence of sanity for a while at least ;) ) ... so will try and give this a whirl then ... sounds intruiging :D

[Noop]

What are the new features?

[Cringer]

Very cool. I have thought of getting HM2 buthave put it off knowing a 3 was coming out sometime. I may have to try to get this now.

Where did I put that jar of pennies?

[Deattribution]

What are the new features?

There was a decent preview up with screenshots on the website but it looks like it is gone now for some reason.

[Barkeep49]

So if I bought HM2 earlier this year I am eligible to recieve HM3 for $10? Or do I get a $10 discount so I'm just as well of buying this prerelease? Can someone help me out here?

[BigMak]

There was a decent preview up with screenshots on the website but it looks like it is gone now for some reason.

I saw the screenshots also. I have been following the development recently and been thinking of buying the game. But by looking at the screenshots, it seemed like the interface was very complicated. Each screen had so many options and looked cluttered. Anyone who has played the prior versions, can you let me know how the interface was? Thanks.

[twothree]

So if I bought HM2 earlier this year I am eligible to recieve HM3 for $10? Or do I get a $10 discount so I'm just as well of buying this prerelease? Can someone help me out here?

I am in the same situation as you. My understanding is that you can wait until the actual release in November-December-whenever and pay $10, OR you can get the pre-release and pay $20 like everyone else. I may be incorrect, but that is my understanding.

[Raiders Army]

I am in the same situation as you. My understanding is that you can wait until the actual release in November-December-whenever and pay $10, OR you can get the pre-release and pay $20 like everyone else. I may be incorrect, but that is my understanding.

That is what I understand as well.

[Tasan]

Just curious, but does this mean we need to sign up on their message board to get this, or is something going to be worked out for us specifically?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Ditto on Tasan's question.

My understanding from reading the post is that all we have to do is show up back here in this thread on Tuesday & we'll find out how to get the discount as FOFC'ers.

[Ironhead]

Certainly curious about this one, and I remember trying the demo for the last version of the game. No way I buy the game without seeing a feature list or screenshots of the game though, which I can't find.

[Izulde]

I saw the screenshots also. I have been following the development recently and been thinking of buying the game. But by looking at the screenshots, it seemed like the interface was very complicated. Each screen had so many options and looked cluttered. Anyone who has played the prior versions, can you let me know how the interface was? Thanks.

It was actually quite streamlined and very easy to get a handle on in HM2.. and I tend to be really picky about interfaces. :)

From what I remember of the HM3 screenshots, it may have looked cluttered to you, but they were actually much more sleek and streamlined than might appear at first glance.

[PraetorianX]

Certainly curious about this one, and I remember trying the demo for the last version of the game. No way I buy the game without seeing a feature list or screenshots of the game though, which I can't find.

Hmmmm, I remember having seen some screenies from the game and a number of features throughout the past year or twelve that it's been developed. But they've changed message boards.

I'm sure something will be up by Tuesday though.

Looked quite good to me, though.

[DanGarion]

Sounds like this might be my next purchase.

[amdaily]

Really excited about this. Hadn't played HM2 until reading this thread and can't wait to buy the new release tomorrow.

[Coop]

I got a email talking about the release tonight..too bad i have an early class

[Raiders Army]

I received an email as well.

[PraetorianX]

What? We're supposed to receive an e-mail? :confused: :(

[Godzilla Blitz]

Nice letter, and welcome to the board!

I might jump on that discounted offer as well. Very generous of you!

[PraetorianX]

So, do any of you guys got ideas already on some of your first movies to be released?

I plan on releasing the final masterpiece of the great Smurfs of Doom series. It never was finished, such a shame. :( Some great movies there...

Smurfs of Doom 1: Blue Meanies
Smurfs of Doom 2: Operation Sunshine
Smurfs of Doom 3: The Beavers Strike Back
Smurfs of Doom 4: Lil' Greenies
Smurfs of Doom 5: Revenge of the Smurfs

SoD 6 was never made, sadly. :( Though, SoD 5 did bomb...the rest had all made near a billion each, but part 5 just...sucked. Eh, that happens.

[heybrad]

What does it take to get the email?

[Deattribution]

The emails were simply just a reminder that the prerelease was tonight for those who were signed up for the Ezboard for hollywood mogul, I'm sure by tonight everyone here will have the link or an email so I wouldn't worry.

[stevew]

How the AI?

[Flasch186]

put me on list.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I going to make movie about texas university football qb. he grow up from high school to star at texas u. then he become super coach. i call my movie Major Asswhite

[DanGarion]

I going to make movie about texas university football qb. he grow up from high school to star at texas u. then he become super coach. i call my movie Major Asswhite

Based on a true story I see.

[Mustang]

I thought he was coming here tomorrow to share the link.

Definitely interested...

[Izulde]

I got the email myself. Time for me to hurry up and finish reading Antony and Cleopatra and do my Rhetoric chapters so I can start playing shortly after midnight. :)

[Bad-example]

I am looking forward to this game as well. I played the hell out of the first one. I once cast Adam Sandler in a pro wrestling slapstick comedy. I believe that was my top earning franchise of all time. My biggest surprise success was a historical epic-drama with Matt Damon as Bobby Fischer.

[SlapBone]

Put me on the list of those interested.

[Neuqua]

Yeah, I'm waiting for the link as well...

[Vince]

That's a difficult offer to pass up. I've been intrigued by others' posts about the game, so I might have to give it a shot for $20.

[DaddyTorgo]

can the lazy among us get a link to a demo for HM2? I'd be intrigued enough to try out the demo for even the previous version so i have some idea what i'm getting into with the franchise, but i'm wayyyy too lazy to go find the demo myself.

[dervack]

http://downloads.zdnet.co.uk/0,39025604,39064612s,00.htm

[DaddyTorgo]

thanks der!

[Tasan]

Isn't it midnight yet?


Okay, so its midnight in half the US, thats about the whole world isn't it? ;- )

[Coop]

Currently d/l it

[Izulde]

Downloading it now myself.

[Neuqua]

Me too.

[dervack]

Weird. I got an email earlier, but not one with the link.

[Tasan]

Crappity crap....no email for me, and no link from the creator on here...dang it.

[Coop]

I can't really get into it right now because of school, but the interface is going to take some time to get used to. Wow, in HM2.5 you had like around 7 genres to choose from. in this one there is over 60.

[dervack]

If you go to the boards, he has it on the front page.

[TazFTW]

Crappity crap....no email for me, and no link from the creator on here...dang it.

It's in the 1st post.

[Tasan]

And I'm a sleepy moron. Thanks for the help guys, knew I could count on ya'll.

[Izulde]

In a lovely bit of irony, I will be skipping Theatre Appreciation tomorrow morning to play Hollywood Mogul 3.

[Izulde]

I've tinkered with this game for 10 minutes and already, it's bye-bye HM2. No words can describe my glee at the options of genres, sub-genres, and settings options.

Not to mention the other options in determining your movie. Oh man, oh man, I'm giddy.

[Joe Canadian]

I figured that the long wait between HM2 & HM3 we'd see at least some improvement on the interface... guess not.

[amdaily]

I figured that the long wait between HM2 & HM3 we'd see at least some improvement on the interface... guess not.

Yeah, huge disapointment. In many cases it has gotten worse. Now I can't even figure out how to hire talent.

[Izulde]

Yeah, huge disapointment. In many cases it has gotten worse. Now I can't even figure out how to hire talent.

You have to greenlight the project first.

[Vince]

Wow. I suck at the demo of 2.5. Badly. Maybe I need some time with it before I decide to plunk down any money on a game I suck so bad at :)

[dervack]

Yeah, huge disapointment. In many cases it has gotten worse. Now I can't even figure out how to hire talent.
Yeah, I'm having the same problem. I think I'm going to play the demo for 3 days, and that's about it for now. I actually like the interface of 2 better.

[sabotai]

Like with most games, it's probably going to take a day or two of playing around to get used to the interface. Just like with pretty much every other text sim out there.

[amdaily]

Wow. I suck at the demo of 2.5. Badly. Maybe I need some time with it before I decide to plunk down any money on a game I suck so bad at :)

I did too, but my first film in HM3 netted some $2.2 billion. To tired to figure out what's going on tonight though.

[Groundhog]

Is the link public, or no?

[Izulde]

I haven't released a movie yet because it keeps looking for the studio logo and not finding it. Ugh.

I may give up on this until tomorrow morning.

[Deattribution]

Looks deep, but it's waaay too late to get into it.

[twothree]

I haven't released a movie yet because it keeps looking for the studio logo and not finding it. Ugh.

I may give up on this until tomorrow morning.

The problem is that the names for the logo files in game do not match the names for the logo files in the logos folder.

By clicking on the second icon, Game Options. Select Player Options. Then in the bottom left select the diamond next to Studio Logo. Then select a logo file.

Edit: You might also want to start a new game, then change the game type from default to custom. Select 10 players. Make them all human players. Then change each one of their logos to one that exsists in the logo folder. And then change the number of players and whether they are human or AI back to how you want them to be. And then start a new game.

Another Edit: Or, you could look down a few posts and follow the directions to install the patch.

[Icy]

Downloaded it and testing now. For first time in years since "Tetris" came out my wife is interested on a computer game wow!

Btw, no real actors database yet, right?

[Icy]

The interface is really bussy for me with the back office and the gold colours so i have created a new "all blue" background in photoshop and also edited the fonts colors etc, looks less bussy for me this way, I'll look now what else can i edit from the interface.

Compare Interface screenshoots:

Original: http://www.prodeportes.com/hm3/original.jpg

Mine (more simpler and easier to read imho): http://www.prodeportes.com/hm3/mine.jpg

[HMdesigner]

Hi,

It is now 6:37 a.m. US Central Standard Time. If you are reading this and HAVE NOT yet downloaded the Pre-Release version of Hollywood Mogul 3 you can do so here: http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/HM3_PR_Install.exe.

That Install file INCLUDES the patch file to fix the logo problem reported early on.

If you have ALREADY downloaded the Pre-Release version, please follow these directions:

HM3 PATCH FILE (version 3.08.0009)
Before you download the patch file:
1. MOVE your current hm3.exe to a safe folder.
2. Find your HM3 game folder in Windows Explorer.
3. In the sub-game-folder \MstFiles
DELETE player.mst
DELETE studio.mst
4. In the sub-game-folder \SourceMyOwnIdeaDB
DELETE ALL ten MyOwnIdea .sdb files.
5. In the sub-game folder \SavedGames
DELETE ALL saved game folders (SG000, SG001, etc)

Download the patch file to your \HM3 game folder from http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/hm3.exe.

Thanks. Sorry about the stupid logo bug. My bad.

HMdesigner

[Icy]

I have been playing with editing, now i have edited also all the top buttons and the interface to more colorfull ones and it looks better imho.

http://www.prodeportes.com/hm3/icy.jpg

[Bee]

I'm sure I'll be getting this game this evening when I get home from work. Icy, are you planning on releasing your interface mod? I'm not a fan of the busy backgrounds in general and prefer something more streamlined like what you've done. Thanks.

B

[Icy]

I'm sure I'll be getting this game this evening when I get home from work. Icy, are you planning on releasing your interface mod? I'm not a fan of the busy backgrounds in general and prefer something more streamlined like what you've done. Thanks.

B

Yeah, i'll release the files and instructions on how to set them up.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'll be downloading when I get home from work this evening. Thanks, Carey!

[Cuckoo]

Me as well. I'm excited about this one.

[amdaily]

I have been playing with editing, now i have edited also all the top buttons and the interface to more colorfull ones and it looks better imho.

http://www.prodeportes.com/hm3/icy.jpg

Both look very good, can't wait to try them!

[twothree]

The hall of fame score calculated at the end of the game should be changed. From what I can tell, right now

Hall of Fame Total = Studio Final Cash + Personal Net Worth.

If you take out a huge loan just before ending the game, the hall of fame total does not really represent your game results. I suggest one of many alternatives:

Hall of Fame Total =
a) personal net worth + studio final cash - outstanding loan
b) personal net worth + studio net profit/loss
c) some other weighted combination

[Coop]

Does anybody know how you negotiate with the agent? The only option i saw was to accept the agent's offer..maybe it was because i was playing last night and I was tired. I wont have achance to play intill after 7.

[Mustang]

Hmm.. HM3 tonight or poker... HM3.. Poker..

tough one...

[PraetorianX]

Does anybody know how you negotiate with the agent? The only option i saw was to accept the agent's offer..maybe it was because i was playing last night and I was tired. I wont have achance to play intill after 7.

You can make your own offer. Though after a couple of attempts and not giving them close enough to what they want, they walk.

[Izulde]

I just got my first billion dollar worldwide hit several years into the game. It was a historical epic based on the War of the Roses. :D It's #3 Worldwide all time behind a couple AI studios.

So far I haven't had a franchise go beyond two movies, but I'm experimenting with doing parts 2 and 3 at the same time a la Pirates.

I'm also reviving my favourite mystery franchise from HM2, to see if I can get it long-running. :)

[amdaily]

I just got my first billion dollar worldwide hit several years into the game. It was a historical epic based on the War of the Roses. :D It's #3 Worldwide all time behind a couple AI studios.

So far I haven't had a franchise go beyond two movies, but I'm experimenting with doing parts 2 and 3 at the same time a la Pirates.

I'm also reviving my favourite mystery franchise from HM2, to see if I can get it long-running. :)

What settings are you playing with? I thought mine were somewhere in the middle, but don't matter what I put out, everything is grossing more than a billion. I have more money than I know what to do with, and in this case that's not a good thing.

[Joe Canadian]

Ok, so apparently you don't need to know what you're doing to be good at this... I've already made two, billion dollar movies... and I've only made three in total.

[Izulde]

What settings are you playing with? I thought mine were somewhere in the middle, but don't matter what I put out, everything is grossing more than a billion. I have more money than I know what to do with, and in this case that's not a good thing.

I'm playing at New in Town, with 2 competitors.

Most of my grosses have been around $300-500+ mill. worldwide. I've yet to replicate the War of the Roses success, though.

[twothree]

If you are making a lot of money and want more of a challenge, I suggest starting a game at a higher difficulty level.

The default and easiest difficulty level, "New In Town", multiplies your box office results by 500% over the hardest difficulty level. Also, on the easiest level you only lose $120 million a year to studio expenses. At the hardest difficulty level you are losing $600 million a year to studio expenses.

Select which Difficulty Level you want. New In Town is the easiest. Hollywood Mogul is the most difficult level. There are three main aspects to the difficult level:
1. The box office results are multiplied by (6 - Difficulty Level). So If you are playing at Difficulty Level 1, your box office result is multiplied times 5 (6 - 1 = 5). If you are playing at Difficulty Level 5, your Box Office Result does not change, as it is multiplied times 1 (6 - 5 = 1).
2. Each month you pay a Studio Expense (employee payroll, property taxes, equipment, etc). Your Studio Expense is equal to the Diffilty Level times $10 Million Dollars. So at Difficulty Level 1 your Studio Expense is $10 Million Dollars. At Difficulty Level 5 your Studio Expense is $50 Million Dollars. A month!

[Deattribution]

My first three films grossed 2 billion each in just box office revenue, not including other revenues and I wasn't even trying nor did I have much idea of what I was doing. Dumb luck maybe, but a little discouraging at the moment.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I haven't played yet, but maybe ths is going to be like FOF where you really need to be playing on the highest level to get the "true" experience?

[Bee]

I haven't played yet, but maybe ths is going to be like FOF where you really need to be playing on the highest level to get the "true" experience?


Sounds like it to me. That's going to be my approach from the start, although if I end up making a $200 million movie that grosses 75 cents I might change my approach. :D

[JonInMiddleGA]

So far my favorite moment from cruising around the demo has to be an original screenplay for a children's movie. Present day setting, self-esteem at stake, children for a primary audience, families for a secondary audience, set on a distant planet, with an 8 y/o female lead.

The title?

Box of Death

[AgustusM]

seems like the opposite of past versions where I would spend hours getting everything "right" and barely break even or lose tons of money even on the easy settings - today on the 2nd easiest setting I blasted through a movie, just to get a feel for it and made a ton of cash.

[Mustang]

The title?

Box of Death

Obviously a movie about McDonald's happy meals.

[Galaril]

Hi,

It is now 6:37 a.m. US Central Standard Time. If you are reading this and HAVE NOT yet downloaded the Pre-Release version of Hollywood Mogul 3 you can do so here: http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/HM3_PR_Install.exe.

That Install file INCLUDES the patch file to fix the logo problem reported early on.

If you have ALREADY downloaded the Pre-Release version, please follow these directions:

HM3 PATCH FILE (version 3.08.0009)
Before you download the patch file:
1. MOVE your current hm3.exe to a safe folder.
2. Find your HM3 game folder in Windows Explorer.
3. In the sub-game-folder \MstFiles
DELETE player.mst
DELETE studio.mst
4. In the sub-game-folder \SourceMyOwnIdeaDB
DELETE ALL ten MyOwnIdea .sdb files.
5. In the sub-game folder \SavedGames
DELETE ALL saved game folders (SG000, SG001, etc)

Download the patch file to your \HM3 game folder from http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/hm3.exe.

Thanks. Sorry about the stupid logo bug. My bad.

HMdesigner

The download say the version is 2.1.2? Is that correct. If you haven't download anything yet is the first link the full exe including the patch or not?

[jbmagic]

Speculation/Rumors

There is some debate as to how the profits for movies are computed, such as whether the month of release is important, or if certain genres of movies perform better in the United States rather than overseas. Also, it is generally believed that science fiction films require more special effects to create a realistic universe, while a Drama or Comedy would not need any.

Some ideas on how films perform:

* Horror Films make more money in October.
* Action Films and Comedies perform well in the summer months.
* Dramas are best in the winter.
* Love stories do best in February

[Izulde]

I tried the second hardest setting and promptly got my ass kicked while waiting for my movies to finish.

[heybrad]

Speculation/Rumors

There is some debate as to how the profits for movies are computed, such as whether the month of release is important, or if certain genres of movies perform better in the United States rather than overseas. Also, it is generally believed that science fiction films require more special effects to create a realistic universe, while a Drama or Comedy would not need any.

Some ideas on how films perform:

* Horror Films make more money in October.
* Action Films and Comedies perform well in the summer months.
* Dramas are best in the winter.
* Love stories do best in February
Ctrl-C
Ctrl-V

[Izulde]

Ctrl-C
Ctrl-V

I'd also add that the information he's stealing is from v 2.5.

V3 explains *specifically* what releases best when in the help guide.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I've got to admit that I am finding the game very confusing right now. I'm going to have to try this again tomorrow.

[Axxon]

I'd also add that the information he's stealing is from v 2.5.

V3 explains *specifically* what releases best when in the help guide.

Yes, but since when has specific information put a stop to speculation/Rumors?

[Cuckoo]

Am I missing it or are there no longer plot details for the projects?

[amdaily]

Am I missing it or are there no longer plot details for the projects?

Apparently not there at the moment either.

I'm also pretty upset about the writing system. I know why they made the change, but if all the writers are identical that whole aspect of the game is meaningless.

[Izulde]

Am I missing it or are there no longer plot details for the projects?

If by plot details you mean storyline, just click the blue arrow in the blank black topmost box on the script screen. 400 or 500 characters max, I forget which.

[Izulde]

I'm also pretty upset about the writing system. I know why they made the change, but if all the writers are identical that whole aspect of the game is meaningless.

I admit I was a little taken aback by the wholesale change they made to the writing system, and it does suck quite a bit in the loss of individuality.

On the other hand, it's a lot less chore writing a script.

The way I've been playing is if the critics pan the writer, I don't use that one again for that genre.

[hukarez]

I'd also add that the information he's stealing is from v 2.5.

V3 explains *specifically* what releases best when in the help guide.

Did he take that directly from Wikipedia?

[jbmagic]

Did he take that directly from Wikipedia?

yes

[Cuckoo]

If by plot details you mean storyline, just click the blue arrow in the blank black topmost box on the script screen. 400 or 500 characters max, I forget which.

Yeah, that's where you can add it. But in the previous HM, the properties already had storylines. The only ones you added were the scripts you created from scratch.

[twothree]

Yeah, that's where you can add it. But in the previous HM, the properties already had storylines. The only ones you added were the scripts you created from scratch.

I imagine that would be added before the actual release. Probably takes some time to type up that many storylines.

[Spree]

Apparently Carey didn't feel like writing thousands upon thousands of cute little movie storylines for our amusement.

[Axxon]

I can't say I blame him and I kinda like writing them in for myself. It adds to immersion and helps me pick who I want associated with the picture.

The whole writing thing though doesn't sound good. I saw it yesterday but assumed I'd missed something. So, we have several names of writers and there's no difference discernible between them? That's pretty pointless IMHO.

[GrantDawg]

Anyone else have a problem getting the license? I used Paypal to purchase the game last night, and I still haven't gotten the license. I sent support an email last night and they haven't even responded.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I was wondering about the writer thing myself, glad somebody mentioned it here.

So far, I'm finding this awfully easy on the next to highest difficulty level. The most talented actors seem to be among the cheapest to hire, the most expensive don't seem to get hired by anybody, and I managed 3 Academy Awards with my first release. On my fourth release I set the record for foreign gross.

And just before the 2008 award nominees were released I suffered my first crash :(

edit to add: resumed with no further problem. I've released five movies so far (it's early 2009), I've notched 6 awards & 13 nominations, I've made more profit than any of the other 5 studios, and have 3 of the top foreign/2 top domestic earners. While I'm enjoying the success, it's sort of troubling that I'm doing this well on the 2nd highest difficulty setting in spite of only skimming the manual and not owning the previous editions of HM.

I think part of the problem might be a lack of competition, with only 5 other studios, it's not been hard to get one of the prime holiday release dates all to myself (I had the only movie released in Nov/Dec).
I've also had no problem finding top ability talent (I think only one person I wanted had a schedule conflict), which also makes doing good movies a lot easier. Combine those with the $50k actors being as good or even sometimes significantly better than the $18m actors, and this just seems too easy right now.

I suppose there might be $20 worth of fun in seeing a real-life database evolve & trying to see just how much money & awards I could rake in, but I'm thinking there may be some disappointed people if they were looking for an engaging challenge long term.

[Bee]

yes


Where did you copy this post from?

:D

[Cuckoo]

Apparently Carey didn't feel like writing thousands upon thousands of cute little movie storylines for our amusement.

Hmm... isn't that why he made the game?

At first, I thought it wasn't much of a big deal, along with the writers thing. But the more I played last night, the more I missed both. I like to do "projects" that are brought to me and occasionally sprinkle in one of my own ideas. Without the plots, it feels like they're all my own ideas.

[Bee]

Hmm... isn't that why he made the game?

At first, I thought it wasn't much of a big deal, along with the writers thing. But the more I played last night, the more I missed both. I like to do "projects" that are brought to me and occasionally sprinkle in one of my own ideas. Without the plots, it feels like they're all my own ideas.

Well, I think the community will add a lot on the plots. I'd rather have him spend his time working on a solid framework for the game than things that can easily be added by the community. That being said, the writer thing bothers me more and I would hope that it will be addressed before the final release.

[Cuckoo]

I'd rather have him spend his time working on a solid framework for the game than things that can easily be added by the community.

Well, I'm not trying to say that it's more important than the nuts and bolts, just that it was one of the little "charms" I really enjoyed from the last version. Without it, I'm having a hard time getting nearly as immersed as I had hoped.

[Pumpy Tudors]

As I mentioned, I was way too confused to really get very far into the game last night. What's the deal with the writers? Are they all the same? Is that what's going on? I'm not sure which better: 1) having them all appear to be the same, or 2) having them all be different but only using the 5-star ones. Everyone pretty much did #2 in HM2, right?

I have to admit that the "manual" turned me off a little bit. It didn't seem to be written in an instructional way. It was more like Carey telling us a story of why some things changed from HM2 to HM3. I couldn't figure out how to audition talent, and yet all I could find in the manual were mentions of how many people I could audition and what happened if I fired them. That's useful information, but I didn't even know how to start the audition process. Apparently, I hadn't greenlighted my project yet, but I didn't even know how to do THAT until I dug around a little bit.

The manual really needs a step-by-step guide for making a movie. It doesn't need to tell us how to maximize profits from the film or anything. It just needs to tell us to "click this, click that, choose this, go to this menu, etc." Tell us from start to finish how to go from concept to released film. Without this information, I feel like I could miss a step along the way and totally mess things up.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

As I mentioned, I was way too confused to really get very far into the game last night. What's the deal with the writers? Are they all the same? Is that what's going on? I'm not sure which better: 1) having them all appear to be the same, or 2) having them all be different but only using the 5-star ones. Everyone pretty much did #2 in HM2, right?

I have to admit that the "manual" turned me off a little bit. It didn't seem to be written in an instructional way. It was more like Carey telling us a story of why some things changed from HM2 to HM3. I couldn't figure out how to audition talent, and yet all I could find in the manual were mentions of how many people I could audition and what happened if I fired them. That's useful information, but I didn't even know how to start the audition process. Apparently, I hadn't greenlighted my project yet, but I didn't even know how to do THAT until I dug around a little bit.

The manual really needs a step-by-step guide for making a movie. It doesn't need to tell us how to maximize profits from the film or anything. It just needs to tell us to "click this, click that, choose this, go to this menu, etc." Tell us from start to finish how to go from concept to released film. Without this information, I feel like I could miss a step along the way and totally mess things up.

Note that this is a pre-release build. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of change between now and December when the final build comes out.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Note that this is a pre-release build. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of change between now and December when the final build comes out.
Perhaps you're right, but I don't hold out much hope for things like the manual and the overall design to be altered at this point. This game's been in development for years now, and if Carey has to tear down any part of this and start over, it's going to be hard to make that December release.

[heybrad]

As I mentioned, I was way too confused to really get very far into the game last night. What's the deal with the writers? Are they all the same? Is that what's going on? I'm not sure which better: 1) having them all appear to be the same, or 2) having them all be different but only using the 5-star ones. Everyone pretty much did #2 in HM2, right?

I have to admit that the "manual" turned me off a little bit. It didn't seem to be written in an instructional way. It was more like Carey telling us a story of why some things changed from HM2 to HM3. I couldn't figure out how to audition talent, and yet all I could find in the manual were mentions of how many people I could audition and what happened if I fired them. That's useful information, but I didn't even know how to start the audition process. Apparently, I hadn't greenlighted my project yet, but I didn't even know how to do THAT until I dug around a little bit.

The manual really needs a step-by-step guide for making a movie. It doesn't need to tell us how to maximize profits from the film or anything. It just needs to tell us to "click this, click that, choose this, go to this menu, etc." Tell us from start to finish how to go from concept to released film. Without this information, I feel like I could miss a step along the way and totally mess things up.
Let me just echo some of this. I'm completely new to this game, so maybe I'm that much more behind the curve. My attempt at playing last night ended with not being able to figure out how to audition or cast for my movie. I scoured the manual and even found a link to hiring talent only to have it lead to an empty page. I eventually gave up. I can see the potential, but without some clearer instructions I just can't seem to get moving with this game.

That said... how exactly do I greenlight my project?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Let me just echo some of this. I'm completely new to this game, so maybe I'm that much more behind the curve. My attempt at playing last night ended with not being able to figure out how to audition or cast for my movie. I scoured the manual and even found a link to hiring talent only to have it lead to an empty page. I eventually gave up. I can see the potential, but without some clearer instructions I just can't seem to get moving with this game.

That said... how exactly do I greenlight my project?
Welcome to my world. As far as I can tell, to greenlight the project, you need to make sure that your pre-production, production, and post-production budgets are all greater than zero. If I remember correctly, in the previous games, you set each of those budgets when that particular stage started. For instance, you don't set post-production budgets until you actually reach post-production. Maybe I don't remember that correctly, but in any case, you have to set all those budgets beforehand now. Once you've done that, in your "production" menu, you should be able to press the "greenlight" button.

Good luck. You'll need it.

[Bee]

I agree the interface isn't very user friendly, but I didn't have much trouble finding what I was looking for without referring to the manual. I didn't play HM2 very much at all, but did spend some time with the original many years ago (which I think might have been before Carey took over?). Of course, I didn't realize I could audition actors until the option came up so I wasn't looking for specific things like that when it wasn't available. I'm sure that would have been frustrating and a better interface would go a long way in helping things like that.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Heybrad: I had the same problem for a while myself. In my case, there were no hiring options because I hadn't yet greenlighted the project. Once I figured that out, the auditon, hiring, etc. options became available.

Meanwhile, apparently I avoided one whole "how do I greenlight" problem because I had the budgets set to automatic (or whatever the in-game term is). On the other hand, I had a helluva time actually finding the "greenlight" diamond to click on in the first place.

[Izulde]

I think part of the problem might be a lack of competition, with only 5 other studios, it's not been hard to get one of the prime holiday release dates all to myself (I had the only movie released in Nov/Dec).
I've also had no problem finding top ability talent (I think only one person I wanted had a schedule conflict), which also makes doing good movies a lot easier. Combine those with the $50k actors being as good or even sometimes significantly better than the $18m actors, and this just seems too easy right now.


Yeah if you have the full boat of competition (9 studios I think it is) things get a lot more hectic and interesting.. and that's when you start running into a lot more scheduling conflicts as I did.

Also, if you give anyone casting approval, a lot of your talented actors will get the Casting Approval Rejected notification.

[GrantDawg]

Anyone else have a problem getting the license? I used Paypal to purchase the game last night, and I still haven't gotten the license. I sent support an email last night and they haven't even responded.


Mid-afternoon after, and still not key-code or even a response from customer support. That is not good.

[HMdesigner]

Okay... the writer issue.

I hated the way it was in HM2. In the end, you're going to hire a writer to put a script in the shape you want it. If that doesn't work out, you hire another writer. And you keep doing that until you get the script you want.

So this time I took all that work out of your hands and added TIME. You want this and this and this... no problem, any number of writers can do it ... but it now takes 9 months, or 16 months or 22 months. This way you know the script will be what you want it to be, you just have to wait for it.

The Storyline Issue
No storylines will be written. Instead, I wrote 8,500 titles that I tried to make fit ANY of the genres that it might be randomized for when you start a new game. Because each of the 13 source databases can be customized, I know that the guy in Ireland who wants to create "the foremost Comic Book database" is going to do a much better job than I am anyway, so I spent my time building a way for him to do that. But mostly it's because so much of the source record can be randomized at the beginning of a game, I didn't want a "storyline" to interfere with that. Under the Game Options section you can Randomize Role Requirements, Role Types, etc. That doesn't play well with a storyline that reads "Eight married women set out for a night on the town and end up on the adventure of a lifetime" and meanwhile the Stakes have been randomized to Coming Of Age, and the role requirements are all for 57 year old men. So the storyline, the one thing in the source record that has NO EFFECT on the game, I left to your imagination. Or if you want to add it, I made a place you can do that.

Yes, It Is Overwhelming
And there's a small bit about that in the manual, in fact. I know it's overwhelming. It's also very intuitive. Click the little red book icons. That will give you context help for that line.

Hiring Talent
In HM2 the talent had a Talent Rating that changed very slowly, and oddly. In HM3 I make everyone AUDITION for a specific role (or more than one role on a movie and you pick their best audition). I know this isn't realistic, but it made the game more playable (not realistic in that the top dogs don't audition).

Put HM2 Out Of Your Mind
HM3 is different. Different UI, different methodologies. You Greenlight a movie BEFORE you cast it in HM3. When I wrote the original DOS version of Hollywood Mogul the average computer had 8MB of RAM. HM3 is EXACTLY what I want it to be. I put into it everything I wanted it to have originally but couldn't (because of the 640K exe size rule). I know it can be overwhelming, but it WILL become intuitive. I hope.

Anyway, thanks for your interest. I'm around if you need me.

Regards,
HMdesigner

[Cuckoo]

The Storyline Issue
No storylines will be written. Instead, I wrote 8,500 titles that I tried to make fit ANY of the genres that it might be randomized for when you start a new game. Because each of the 13 source databases can be customized, I know that the guy in Ireland who wants to create "the foremost Comic Book database" is going to do a much better job than I am anyway, so I spent my time building a way for him to do that. But mostly it's because so much of the source record can be randomized at the beginning of a game, I didn't want a "storyline" to interfere with that. Under the Game Options section you can Randomize Role Requirements, Role Types, etc. That doesn't play well with a storyline that reads "Eight married women set out for a night on the town and end up on the adventure of a lifetime" and meanwhile the Stakes have been randomized to Coming Of Age, and the role requirements are all for 57 year old men. So the storyline, the one thing in the source record that has NO EFFECT on the game, I left to your imagination. Or if you want to add it, I made a place you can do that.

That's too bad. I understand completely your reasoning (from the game point of view), and I certainly wouldn't want to write thousands of plot lines. That said, I sure hope there will eventually be a bunch of storylines put together in some sort of database. I don't even care if they don't match the role requirements. I'm just not getting attached to a project like I did in HM2, and I'm often in the mood to be uncreative when I play since I have to be creative all day. :)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Thanks for the message, Carey. Although I am being somewhat critical right now, I do appreciate the years of work that you've put into your games, and I'm trying so hard to understand it because I loved HM2, and I hope to love HM3 also.

With that said, I think I could get along OK if I had a step-by-step guide on how to create a movie. I know that seems like it should be pretty basic, but I get lost along the way. I'm confused about why I have to set a special effects budget even though I don't have any special effects. I understand that you can't get a movie through post for free, but I wish that it was set up so that I'm not spending a million dollars on a special effects budget if I don't need to. I think that's what held me up from greenlighting my movie. I'm trying to make straight-to-video porn here, and I have to spend a million bucks on I dunno what.

It's just confusing me, I suppose.

[GrantDawg]

Finally got an email from customer support with the info.

[twothree]

I'm trying to make straight-to-video porn here, and I have to spend a million bucks on I dunno what.

Lubrication. Plenty of lubrication.

In seriousness, once you have the movie selected, select Development on the middle menu bar. Now look at the bottom left corner of the screen select the "empty" star next to Special Effects. That will set your special effects budget to zero.

[jonesz]

Okay... the writer issue.

I hated the way it was in HM2. In the end, you're going to hire a writer to put a script in the shape you want it. If that doesn't work out, you hire another writer. And you keep doing that until you get the script you want.

So this time I took all that work out of your hands and added TIME. You want this and this and this... no problem, any number of writers can do it ... but it now takes 9 months, or 16 months or 22 months. This way you know the script will be what you want it to be, you just have to wait for it.

I appreciate that and see your point. I can see going this route, but why, the way it works now, are there umpteen writers to choose from? Are they different in any way, or is it just for awards time?

[DaddyTorgo]

I'm trying to make straight-to-video porn here, and I have to spend a million bucks on I dunno what.

you too? that was the first thing i did, a straight-up porn with like...all young up-and-coming actresses.

but then again i'm a perv, so *shrug*

[DanGarion]

you too? that was the first thing i did, a straight-up porn with like...all young up-and-coming actresses.

but then again i'm a perv, so *shrug*

I know. There is no real way to make an "indie".

[HMdesigner]

Hello again,

My apologies to anyone who has emailed me and not gotten a prompt response. My Internet provider has been up and down for two days. Which is why so many downloads died right in the middle.

But about PayPal ...

In the years that I've been taking PayPal purchases, it's been my experience that it can take up to 24 hours for them to PROCESS the purchase. Even though your account SHOWS the money is there, they spend a lot of time confirming it in some way. I have no control over it.

HM3 Tutorial
I HAVE thought about this, I just didn't get time to do it. I'm still thinking about how best to present it, also. I'll do the best I can.

Thanks for your time, and your interest.
HMdesigner

[Coop]

Is the reaon why every movie seems to do a lot of money because there are no other movies being released with it? I'm thinking of increasing the # of studios.

[Abe Sargent]

Finally got an email from customer support with the info.


I got my license e0mail with the code and pw and everything, but I can;t get my game to take it. It says authorization denied.

[twothree]

Is the reaon why every movie seems to do a lot of money because there are no other movies being released with it? I'm thinking of increasing the # of studios.

In short, I believe the answer is yes.

Another option to change when you start a new game is Studios Release. It is under the Set-Up tab, at the bottom of the middle column under Computer Studio AI, Studios Release defaults to Diff Level x 1. Change this to Diff Level x 2 in order to double the number of movies released by the computer studios.

Read the help next to this option for more information.

[twothree]

I got my license e0mail with the code and pw and everything, but I can;t get my game to take it. It says authorization denied.

I am not positive, but you may have to be connected to the internet when you input the code and password. And of course the program has to be able to negotiate around any firewalls you have up.

Found it.

Do I have to be online to play Hollywood Mogul 3?
No. You only have to be online to purchase Hollywood Mogul 3 and to activate the software.

[Abe Sargent]

I am online and I have no firewalls

[twothree]

I am online and I have no firewalls

Hmmm... well the code (License ID) is a six digit number and your password should be known to you. Are you typing them in correctly? Maybe, capitalization problems with your password? Maybe the licensing server is offline? Uhmm... I guess you could email [email protected] with what you think is your License ID and password and wait for a response back.

[twothree]

you too? that was the first thing i did, a straight-up porn with like...all young up-and-coming actresses.

but then again i'm a perv, so *shrug*

I guess we will need a talent file containing "adult entertainers" along with associated image files for several members (heh, heh, I said members.) of this board, so that they can make their dream movies. :D

[Abe Sargent]

Hmmm... well the code (License ID) is a six digit number and your password should be known to you. Are you typing them in correctly? Maybe, capitalization problems with your password? Maybe the licensing server is offline? Uhmm... I guess you could email [email protected] with what you think is your License ID and password and wait for a response back.

This post actually helped me because I was inputting the SEVEN digit customer ID and not the SIX digit purchase ID. So, thanks!


-Anxiety

[heybrad]

I played last night and got further along. I'm starting to get the hang of the interface.

Question... I loaded this onto my laptop but also want a copy on my home PC. When activating it are we "elicensing" the game? Can I have two copies with my 1 purchase?

[JonInMiddleGA]

MUCH harder with 10 studios, on highest difficulty setting, with studios at x2 on releases.

Still not having a problem finding casts that audition well ... but I also went bankrupt in early 2009, in spite of hitting for 3 Academy Awards in 2008 (including 2 for a $30m film that lost money).

[Bee]

3 Academy Awards in 2008 (including 2 for a $30m film that lost money).


Well at least they nailed that. :D

[amdaily]

MUCH harder with 10 studios, on highest difficulty setting, with studios at x2 on releases.

Still not having a problem finding casts that audition well ... but I also went bankrupt in early 2009, in spite of hitting for 3 Academy Awards in 2008 (including 2 for a $30m film that lost money).

I made a $70M film that screen tested so atrociously that I sent it straight to DVD. Ended up losing only $15M on it, but it went on to win Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor.

[twothree]

Current patch (3.08.0011), released Sept. 28, download thread.

http://hollywood-mogul.com/vbull/forums/showthread.php?t=131

Edit: Note, you will lose your saved games if you follow the directions and install this patch.

[TazFTW]

What does it fix?

[Bee]

What does it fix?


Where's jbmagic when you need him?

[twothree]

What does it fix?

[puts on his jbmagic mask]

I am going to scare some kids this Holloween.

http://hollywood-mogul.com/vbull/forums/showthread.php?t=122
http://hollywood-mogul.com/vbull/forums/showthread.php?t=123

Plus several other bugs that were reported, but are no longer listed in any thread. (See post #3 of this thread http://hollywood-mogul.com/vbull/forums/showthread.php?t=120 )

[Grammaticus]

It sure seems like the money is off. I mean rarely does it take 180 million to make a movie and grosses are not over a billion. The first movie I made in HM3 cost 180 million to make and it was a horror film. It went on to Gross over 1.5 billion worldside, about 700 million US.

Am I off on this or what? I thought top grossing movies each year were routinely between 100 and 300 million. With the top ones usually up there, but not many each year that top 100 million. After googling I found, Titanic is the top grossing movie of all time at a little over 600 million US and 1.8 Billion worldwide. According to Imdb only 3 movies ever have grossed over a billion.

Titanic
LOTR Return of the King
Pirates of the Carribean Dead Mans Chest

[amdaily]

The finances defiently need adjusted. Your only option to keep box office returns inline are to play on the most difficult level with a very agressive AI, but then you are facing bankruptcy pretty quick due to the costs of running the studio at that level.

[Flasch186]

unfortunately that may be realistic on some levels. Many smaller companies have to turn to direct to foreign markets to keep things afloat and then pick up a gamble on one or two fliers a year, possibly in conjunction with another small company. Im not sure how well that translates to a game though.

[Flasch186]

so we still only get 3 days trial on it, yet many people are de-bugging it? That seems oddly incongruent. no? I mean, I dont know a better solution since he cant give the game away but this limitation also limits his ability to flush out any problems.

OHHHH

You can purchase it OR take ont he 3 day trial....sorry for that.

[Schmidty]

I can't find a link to download the trial game on the HM site. Does anyone have a link?

[stevew]

http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/HM3_PR_Install.exe

[Schmidty]

http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/HM3_PR_Install.exe

Thanks.

[amdaily]

Another problem just cropped up. Playing on the hardest level with the AI set at x1, it seems I am the only studio in the green after 8 years. First I noticed increasingly fewer movies being released by the AI, then it started selling it's Yachts and taking out loans. After looking on the balance sheet page I see most of my 9 opponents are $3 to 10 billion in the red.

At least this means my soon to be released $710 million sci-fi flick should clean up at the box office ;)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Well, I guess the pre-release tactic worked. I bought the game last night.
And now I hold my breath & hope I don't end up regretting it. I think the issues are largely formula related problems, so I'm hopeful that the bugs get squared away.

[HMdesigner]

I know. There is no real way to make an "indie".

I'm not sure if this fits your needs, but start a new game,

In Set-Up toggle Game Type to Custom Game
In Game Options toggle Allow Low Budget Movies to Yes.

In the Production department section of the game, this allows you to set a Production Value BELOW Standard, with a budget modifier all the way down to 1%.

Please note that this Budget Modifier is NOT applied to Special Effect Costs.

[HMdesigner]

I made a $70M film that screen tested so atrociously that I sent it straight to DVD. Ended up losing only $15M on it, but it went on to win Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor.

Well THAT's a bug. Thanks. I'll get it fixed for HM3 Patch File 3.08.0013 due out later today (Saturday September 30, 2006).

[Blade6119]

Well THAT's a bug. Thanks. I'll get it fixed for HM3 Patch File 3.08.0013 due out later today (Saturday September 30, 2006).

The link to the patch file says forbidden...any help? Or can i keep playing even though i deleted what your instructions say to?

[stevew]

I had some fun with the demo. My biggest success was a romantic picture that I made about 8-10 sequels to. All of them did at least a billion.

And I made some sort of Goodfellas type mob flick that I believe did something between 300-500 million on DVD.

I dunno if I'll buy it now though, as my gaming budget is pretty well shut off at this moment.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The link to the patch file says forbidden...any help? Or can i keep playing even though i deleted what your instructions say to?

Are you trying this one?
http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/HM3patch380017.zip

It appears to be the current patch & I just downloaded it fine

Note: I haven't tried it yet, I appear to have still been on 380011, so I don't know if there's any issues with this patch or not (but there is one mentioned by a user, concerning Talent Approval allegedly being added to some contracts even when it wasn't offered). In other words, use at your own risk ;)

[Grammaticus]

Are you trying this one?
http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/HM3patch380017.zip

It appears to be the current patch & I just downloaded it fine

Note: I haven't tried it yet, I appear to have still been on 380011, so I don't know if there's any issues with this patch or not (but there is one mentioned by a user, concerning Talent Approval allegedly being added to some contracts even when it wasn't offered). In other words, use at your own risk ;)

This one worked for me too.

[Coop]

I had some fun with the demo. My biggest success was a romantic picture that I made about 8-10 sequels to. All of them did at least a billion.

And I made some sort of Goodfellas type mob flick that I believe did something between 300-500 million on DVD.

I dunno if I'll buy it now though, as my gaming budget is pretty well shut off at this moment.

Yeah the whole financial thing needs to be reworked.

[SackAttack]

I tried to create some "MyOwnIdea" stuff earlier. Virtually every setting I clicked on to define one role or another caused a CTD error. Something-something 9.

[HMdesigner]

Turns out the guy who said he was testing HM Source, HM MyIdea, and HM Talent didn't test them at all.

All known bugs in the above three sections of HM3 have been fixed and are available in the latest patch.

You DO NOT have to be a member of my board to access the patch files. The latest is 17 which you can find here: http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/HM3patch380017.zip

Thanks for your interest.

HMdesigner

[path12]

I downloaded the trial version, but when I go to click on the purchase icon I just get a blank webpage........what am I missing?

[Swaggs]

Anyone playing/enjoying this? I intended to get it upon release but was a little too busy. Is it worthy buying and spending time on now?

[Flasch186]

linky no worky for the patch above.

[Cuckoo]

Anyone playing/enjoying this? I intended to get it upon release but was a little too busy. Is it worthy buying and spending time on now?

I bought it. To be completely honest, I'm having a hard time getting hooked on it like I was on HM2. The lack of already formulated plots (I know; I'm one of the few that seems to miss them) and the overall complexity have kept me from really digging into it. I'm waiting for some of the real databases to give it a go again.

All of that said, it's obvious the game is improved in many ways from the previous version. It's very in-depth, and I wasn't seeing any game-killing bugs.

[Deattribution]

Anyone playing/enjoying this? I intended to get it upon release but was a little too busy. Is it worthy buying and spending time on now?


I bought it, but personally it feels very incomplete to me. It's just not ready to sit down and play. I understand that the pre-release has bugs in it (and it does), but inside the game seems very ugly... Like having a 13 film franchise that grossed 86 billion dollars total (2nd hardest difficulty). You'd think anyone apart of a franchise that big would really jump up on the A-list, the lead actor started at rank #399 and still is at rank #399.

End up seeing 'new' actors pop up in the game who were already in the game, resetting their original records (a bug that I guess I should get around to reporting).

From what I saw every other studio was using 5 star production rates on EVERY film, which was odd..

There are some talent databases finished now, and they're not too bad from what I can tell but between having to delete your saved games everytime you install one of the almost daily patches (I do appreciate the support though) and the off the wall results you tend to get in the game.. It feels like to me it's going to be a few weeks to a month atleast before I'll really sit down and get into a real game.

I think there will be alot to like, and it should be fun to play but not until it is really tweaked and patched.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Deattribution's take is pretty similar to my own I think.

As I said up the thread, I really feel like the biggest problems at this point are with some of the formulas/calculations that are generating the numbers, so I'm still hopeful. If it's truly ready for prime time in a couple of months then that would be right on track for the official release (IIRC that was tenatively planned for the end of the year).

Right now there's not much fun factor in playing since you know that you're going to have to start over with each patch, but it's intriguing enough that I can kill a few hours with it between patches so that's encouraging at this point.

[twothree]

In my opinion, the game has potential.

My main problem right now, is not the game so much, but the method of patching the game and the administration of their forum.

Each new patch forces you to start a new game. That makes it hard to get into the game, if you have been patching it. Also, while each patch is suppose to be the only patch needed. If you miss a patch, you may miss a new file. Because I have seen patches have a new file in them, and then in a following patch that new file is no longer in the zip. An example: the files plyrdict.dat and gamedict.dat don't always appear in each new patch.

As for the HM3 message board, I will no longer post there. I can understand my posts being deleted when I report a bug and Carey records the bug and then deletes the thread. I don't like it, but I can live with it. However, when I put a post in the HM3 Discussion forum about calculating your final score with possible alternative methods, I expect it not to be deleted. It was. I don't know why it was deleted, but the thread only contained my initial post and a reply by HMdesigner. I made the post around Sept. 26 and HMdesigner replied around Sept. 29 and it was deleted sometime around Oct. 7.

But I guess it's good that my major complaints have nothing to do with game play.

[14ers]

Did the financials ever get fixed in this game?

[path12]

So nobody else who tried to buy it had a problem? My trial is over now and I still just get a blank page when I hit the "order" button.

Good thing the new FM is coming out!

[Deattribution]

Did the financials ever get fixed in this game?

He's still working pretty hard on fixing the current bug issues before financials, contracts ect are tweaked. I can understand this approach as the financials don't mean much if the game doesn't work properly first.

[Deattribution]

So nobody else who tried to buy it had a problem? My trial is over now and I still just get a blank page when I hit the "order" button.

Good thing the new FM is coming out!

Didn't have any issues at all with purchasing, had the game in less than 2 minutes. You might want to try to send an email to [email protected] , he has done a really good job with support. Most bugs posted are addressed within a day.

[SlapBone]

HM is AWOL. The HM boards are down and the patches linked in this thread are offline.

[sabotai]

I can get to the boards just fine, but the patch links don't work for me either. (EDIT: And according to his profile on his forum, he was just on less than a half hour ago.)

[Deattribution]

Forum is working fine for me also...

On a game related note - I've came to the conclusion that it's just not fun. I loved HM2 and it's concept, although some of the tedium really irritated me (like script rewriting and *having* to view the awards when nominated) but even with these fixed in the new version, it's just.... bland.

The game gives you a bit more control over everything, but it feels like everything is even more random than ever before. Maybe being apart of what effectively is a paid beta called a pre-release has jaded me towards the game a little, but from what I see in the full version, along with the patches that have followed - I don't see the game in, or headed in the direction I was hoping for. It'll be a more polished game, but this seems to be the final product.

As with the latest patch (.28) I can create any film I want, and any script with great detail - but whether I spend 2 hours creating and nitpicking a movie, or 2 seconds just randomizing everything, it has little to no impact on the end result. I've released series of movies, literally in the dozen without ever changing a single thing from the original script only to make billions, and I've spent countless minutes perfecting roles on several films barely to make a profit on it or any of it's sequels that were realistically changing over time.

The difficulty level at this point has been a mixture between too easy on one level, or too hard on the other, I'm fairly assured this will be addressed over time but to me, it feels like a matter of slinging mud at the wall and hoping something sticks when creating a film. Go down a list, find your 5 star auditions, make your 5 star production, preproduction set to 5 star, set all your dvd release details to yes, set a 5 star sound track, have a typical marketing budget and release it competition be damned. Rinse, repeat. It'll either fail miserably or make billions.

Nobody turns down a 80+ role, negotations aren't really fun, once you lock them into a sequel contract you can theortically make that film and it's sequals until they retire (I've done it), I don't know, it just doesn't have the realism to be a sim, and it doesn't have the fun factor to be a game IMO.

I've made some suggestions on the forums, but again, it seems like this is more or less the finished product with some work and tweaking. I can understand that, as I'm sure alot of time was put into it. There is alot here, alot more information and detail than HM2, but it seems to make little to no difference. I just can't say I'm not a little disappointed.

[Neon_Chaos]

Welcome to Hollywood.

[Karlifornia]

Welcome to Hollywood.

lol'z

[Commo_Soldier]

I just came across this thread and thought I would check out the website. It appears that you can now download a copy of HM3 for free. http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/download.htm

[Neon_Chaos]

I just came across this thread and thought I would check out the website. It appears that you can now download a copy of HM3 for free. http://www.hollywood-mogul.com/download.htm

Isn't that the trial version? They still have a purchase page.

[Commo_Soldier]

Isn't that the trial version? They still have a purchase page.


The website states Download and play the full game for free

[mauchow]

for three days...

[Neon_Chaos]

Downloaded, 8-day trial.

With the quality of customer support, it's not worth the $$$.

[Commo_Soldier]

Yea, I guess I should have actually installed it in addition to downloading, my bad :D

[Flasch186]

just like Hollywood. All dreams with very little reality :)

[Izulde]

HM2 I played for months.

HM3 I played for 5 days. Pretty much says it all there, I think.

[Axxon]

HM2 I played for months.

HM3 I played for 5 days. Pretty much says it all there, I think.


So.... is it better or worse than HM2?

[DanGarion]

Welcome to Hollywood!

[thesloppy]

HM2 I played for months.

HM3 I played for 5 days. Pretty much says it all there, I think.

I had pretty much the same experience. If anybody was successful in creating 'fun' with this game I'd love to know how you did it.

[Spree]

Anyone remember the development hell this game went through?

Ironic because the game was delayed to be tweaked to perfection, and when it came out it was a total bust.

The "auditions" were by far the best fun factor. Who could forget wasting 10 auditions on talentless superstars only to find Ben Kingsley on the bottom of the list giving a 5-star audition. Or finding that perfect comedic vehicle for Jim Carrey to win on Oscar.

That, and the awards. The random Oscars in HM2 was painful.

I found HM3 to be vastly superior to HM2, just because of all the customization and long list of selectable genres. People's preference for HM2 confuses me. It's not like the difference between Civ2 and Civ3 is comparable to the differences in the HM franchise.

[jonesz]

Yep, with 3 there was not rhyme or reason which movies where hits and which were bombs. It was pretty much a crap shoot. Completely void of fun.

[14ers]

I quit playing 3 along time ago, so maybe they fixed this; I hated the fact that you had to create the mega blockbuster staring the major stars every time. There was no way to try and develop characters with small budget movies.

[Swaggs]

Did anyone ever get into HM3?

I am getting antsy for a new game and, since it doesn't appear that TCY2 is on the immediate horizon, thought it might be worth a try.

Did HM3 ever get patched to the point that it became fun? or, was HM2 just the perfect amount of simplicity and complexity that could not be recreated?

[Young Drachma]

Welcome to Hollywood.

[Young Drachma]

I think I played the demo, as I'd been in the forum before he closed it off to new people. It wasn't fun anymore. I mean, it was the same UI and even with new features, it was basically the same ol' HM, a big clickfest. HM2 was the holy grail and I think for the time that we all played it, was probably suitable.

[DeToxRox]

Did anyone ever get into HM3?

I am getting antsy for a new game and, since it doesn't appear that TCY2 is on the immediate horizon, thought it might be worth a try.

Did HM3 ever get patched to the point that it became fun? or, was HM2 just the perfect amount of simplicity and complexity that could not be recreated?

I was never welcomed to Hollywood.

[jonesz]

It seemed to me to be complete randomness. I didn't enjoy it at all.

[path12]

I'll fourth that opinion. This one just wasn't fun to play.

[Cuckoo]

Had good potential, if you ask me, but the author didn't seem to be very receptive to customer thoughts/issues. The lack of pre-created story ideas was a huge drawback for me, and I just couldn't get as into it without those. The community, as small as it is, created some but not nearly enough for replayability.

[Logan]

the author didn't seem to be very receptive to customer thoughts/issues.

Hahahaha ya think? (http://operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=58251)

[Logan]

Oh man...just read a couple pages of that thread, Pumpy was en fuego and I didn't realize Karl made the first parody response.

[RedKingGold]

Hahahaha ya think? (http://operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=58251)

Thanks, I was looking for that thread earlier today and could not find it.

[AgustusM]

I played the first iteration of this game a great deal, and purchased every version since but have lost steam with it since it hasn't seemed to evolve at the same pace as other games. I love the idea and was hoping The Movies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Movies) was going to be the game that took the genre to the next step, but it too fell a little short.

I think this is one area of text simming that could really use a Web 2.0 (story for the cliche, just best way to describe it) type interface

[chesapeake]

Much of what made the original HM fun seemed to be missing from HM3. And I am hard-pressed to think of any part of the latter version that was substantive improvement over the original.

[kcchief19]

Unofficial Hollywood Mogul Message Board - Hollywood Mogul 4 - WISH LIST (http://hollywood-mogul.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=hollywoodmogul4&action=display&thread=37)

Carey is putting together a feature list for HM4 and sent out an email today saying he would soon launch a Kickstarter campaign for the game.

I wouldn't mind seeing an HM4 since HM3 didn't quite do the trick. I'm sure this launch much FOFC comedy as well.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'd like to see Carey's computer blow up every time he tries to type a line of code.

[Izulde]

Much of what made the original HM fun seemed to be missing from HM3. And I am hard-pressed to think of any part of the latter version that was substantive improvement over the original.

This. I think the problem was that it gave you *too* many options and *too* many variables to work with.

[Julio Riddols]

Man, I remember playing the demo of HM1 back in the day, made a comedy/drama called "The Dead Baby" That made 1.2 billion dollars worldwide. The sequel was much less successful domestically, despite having a way bigger budget and a much better screenplay. Did really well overseas though.. Kinda wanna play that game again.

[Dutch]

My hits back then were the horror movies "Don't Make Me Kill You" and "Don't Make Me Kill You 2!"

[Julio Riddols]

That was probably the most fun aspect of the game for me, coming up with a silly title to apply to the movie, then writing a ridiculous synopsis, then watching it either bomb or rake in the dough, seemingly at random.

[stevew]

It would be great as a 5$ phone game.

[EagleFan]

Welcome to Hollywood