Back in the Black!!

After slipping as far as 1.4 million dollars in debt, I am now happy to say that my studio is actually making money once again. The studio currently has about $20,000, and even though I am still in last place, I have high hopes for the future.

In case you ever find yourself playing the movies and your studio runs into trouble and goes into a severe debt...here are the secrets behind my miraculous recovery:

1. Downsizing-- I ended up having to sell half of my actors (yes, people have a market value in the movies) so I was left with only four. This didn't allow me to make as many movies, but I saved a lot of money by not having to pay a large number of actors' salaries. This is yet another creepy way in which The Movies mimics real life.

2. Consulting --about two weeks ago, one of my floor-mates asked to play The Movies and got hooked. He is a Movies natural, so I had a conference with him, and he taught me his patented system for success (he currently has the top ranked studio). Basically, he has his writers constantly producing scripts. He sells some of them and produces the others. This is a genius idea since the writers never get stressed out or complain about having too much work to do (insert writers' strike joke here). He also stressed the importance of caring for the talent, and explained how he has established a pattern of providing makeovers, new trailers, fancy dinners, entourages, and pay increases to the actors. It was a very balanced plan, that will make it a lot easier to manage the talent once I really get the hang of it.

3. Getting my hands dirty -- I also found that I can quickly make scripts, which I can sell, using the movie making tool. It's pretty easy to make scripts that will receive the maximum asking price just by throwing as many scenes as possible in them. Normally, a script with 20 different scenes would take forever to shoot, but since I'm selling it, it doesn't really matter.

So, this was the main plan that brought my studio back to a somewhat respectable position. Hopefully I'll be able to start moving up the charts.

I would have to say that collaborating with my fellow Cronk was the main reason why I'm making money once again. Interestingly enough, one of the main ideas that I took out of this week's readings was the idea of virtual environments as places that support collaborative learning. This week's reading for my Online Learning class also dealt with how to foster and facilitate collaborative learning in an online environment. Although I would initially think that a face to face environment would be the best way of supporting collaboration, the Online Learning readings seemed to suggest that online discussions tend to allow more people to get involved. Moving a step further, it seems like virtual environments, such as Quest Atlantis or River City, might be even more supportive of collaborative learning, since students might be less afraid to make mistakes in a virtual world. This absence of any major consequences (although I'm sure some exist) might make students more willing to share their ideas and more receptive to the ideas of others.

Congrats to Lisa

Congratulations to Lisa who was the winner of the 1st Brundageblog contest. She got all of the references except 1...PHENOMENAL!!!

Interesting Machinima and the 1st Brundageblog contest

I'd like to dedicate this week's machinima selection to Lisa...may she take joy in seeing WOW in a totally different light.

Contest: List the movies that are referenced in the clip.

All work and no play...

This week was supposed to be the week.  My studio had been climbing up the charts, I was on the brink of becoming the highest grossing studio, and then, in dramatic fashion, everything came crumbling down.  

It all started with my lead actress.  She was apparently so overworked, that she needed to spend her time in the bar to get herself through each shoot.  Eventually, this led to a severe drinking problem and a trip to the on-site rehab facility, where she was ordered to stay for 12 months.  So, shooting on one of my films was halted...not such a big deal.

Then a director went down.  Two of my actors were so angry about not having a quality trailer to stay in, so they basically showed up to the set whenever they wanted to.  So, as time kept ticking by, and none of my movies were being made, I began bleeding money.

Currently, I am over 1 million dollars in debt.  

Interestingly enough, I am not tempted to start my game over.  Do I smell immersion and engagement?  For some reason, I am fully committed to my sinking ship and determined to bring my crumbling empire back to it's former glory.  Everyone loves a good "underdog" story, don't they?

Thinking about this week's topic of gender, while I have generally been falling into the "boy" category when it comes to my gaming, one area in which I represent the ladies is with my need for advanced preparation.  When working on our presentation, Jonas and I had an interesting conversation about out initial interactions with the game.  I explained that before beginning, I read the game manual cover to cover...he seemed shocked that such a manual even existed.  (Odd how the boy scouts claim to "always be prepared.")  Joanne touched on this theme in her blog post this week, comparing her need to always know what is going to happen next with her (male) gaming buddy's love of the unexpected.  I found it interesting when connected this aspect to an emotional connection to the game.  I had never really thought of that, but in trying to pinpoint the reason why I felt the need to read the manual, I realized that it was because I was predicting that my satisfaction would come from doing a good job, not from exploring the game.  

Don't Pull That Scaffold Out From Under Me!!

I had big plans for my video game this week.  I finally unlocked the custom production office, which contains the game's movie-making tool, and I was ready to shoot my very own movie.  The Movies is really two games in one.  There is the "tycoon"game, in which you have to manage the studio and all of your employees in order to gain supremacy in the film industry.  Then there is the movie-making game, in which you have to write, direct, produce, cast the stars, and make decisions regarding sets, and costumes.

Last week's presentation on Halo 3 got me thinking about the scaffolding in The Movies.  The tycoon facet of the game does this very well.  When I first opened my studio, a guide helped me through the beginning stages, giving me advice on what buildings I needed to construct and tips for how I could help my studio get a better overall rating.  The help slowly tapers off, but my guide always speaks up if I am neglecting my actors or if I need to build another bathroom.

For the movie-making facet of the game, all of my dreams of seeing my ideas come to life on the screen were slowed (I am currently still in production) by a lack of scaffolding.  There are tutorials I can select, but it seems to be taking a long time to get to the information that I really need.  During the process of trying to make my movie--a process that I was really looking forward to--I could feel myself becoming disengaged with the whole thing.  It left me wondering why the creators of the game didn't just use the same scaffolding model that they used for the tycoon portion of the game.

I have not given up on the movie-making yet, though.  It seems like one of those things that will be a lot of fun once I get the hang of it.  Until then, production on "Negative Transfer" will be slightly delayed...I guess this game should get a few points for being true to life.