Its been an interesting month in the development of the game; quite a lot of progress has been made which is cool so lets jump in :P
Award Ceremony
The award ceremonies are beginning to take shape this month; much like the first game you will be invited to attend award ceremonies. These ceremonies are optional, however if you do not attend you will still win awards but not the newly implemented "winners bonus". Each category now comes with a bonus which will award the talent/studio with some cool loot. At the moment all awards and bonuses are hardcoded into the game; this is mainly due to time constraits. After launch when I get some free time I will begin opening up a lot of these things in the editor.
The game currently has 14 AI studios in it; this will grow to about 20 before release. You will be able to choose at the start of the game to customise how many AI players you compete against in the campaign (anywhere from 5 to all 20). At the end of the award ceremony you will be given a run-down of who-won-what similar to how it was done in the first game. I'm really pleased with how its all looking and I hope everyone likes what they see :)
Talent Biographies
Quite a bit of work has gone into the talent biography screens and getting these looking good. I showed off these screens many months ago but I think they've become a lot more detailed and inviting. Every single actor, director, writer and producer can be viewed in this talent biography screen. You can see a complete run down of their stats, genre stats, filmography and awards. You can also send individuals film scripts you wish to cast them in, offer studio contracts, as well as poke, gift and offer help if they carry any addictions. These little RPG elements add another layer to the game where you can develop personal relationships with people you like and gain studio favour (this can help with casting opportunities as well as press obligations). Addictions have also been added in and can interfere with an individuals' abilities on set. They can also cause their death in extreme cases.
The filmography page has been updated also. You can now filter through an individuals filmography to see what projects they have done and see their top 3 "best known for" pictures. This screen isnt entirely finished yet but its a good start in the right direction I think. I really want biographies to come alive. These AI characters arent static like in Showtime 1, every turn they do what is best for themselves. They will sign new contracts with competing studios, take up movie roles and work (or hinder) their skill sets. Relationships will not be added into the game at this stage but it is something I plan on adding in maybe post-release.
Final thoughts...
So that's me done for the month. I stil have a lot of work to do on the composing screen which is why I didnt show it off. I am taking a page out of Chart Wars (Osiris players will be happy to know) and hopefully it'll give an extra flavour to the game. I still havent made much progress with an editor yet so that will still come. I am also still on the lookout for a character artist (paid work) if anyone knows of anyone who can do character avatars similar to those seen in the screenshots? Other than that thanks for reading and seeya next month! Cheers :)
