The Film Maker (Original)

Help! I'm getting frustrated!!

This is mostly a really good game but am now trying to fight the martians in the Aliens film and I don't understand even what I'm supposed to be doing. The instructions go by too fast for me to actually read and understand them. Aim with the mouse? The mouse doesn't want to move where I try to move it. Shoot by clicking? Nothing happens most of the time when I click, and I'm not sure what I'm even supposed to be aiming at. The space ships? The rare times something does happen when I click it is shooting two beams in different directions at??? There are two lines of some kind at the bottom but I really didn't understand what they are supposed to be telling me. One is for shield strength and one is for laser power but I don't get it. My arm is sore already from mashing my mouse.

Please, does anybody know anything about this game and how this mini game works or (better yet) if I can skip it somehow??

Thanks!

Have looked at his walkthrough here?

If this isn't the right part of the walkthrough, please let me know:



And if this does not help, I would suggest writing to the game designer here. He is a nice guy and would be more than willing to assist you.

No Marian. I'm talking about the original game, not this Storycentric version. I'm playing in my XP. It is a arcade type game and I just don't understand how to play it. I think I know what I'm supposed to be doing but the mouse movement is making any aiming difficult and no matter if I aim the mouse cursor or the laser beams, it is hard to hit the space ships. I get 2 of the 3 and then my lasers stop even though I have a long laser power bar and a long shield strength bar. I just don't understand how the game works I guess.

Just saw your edit with the hidden content and it sounds like I'm no going to like the Storycentric version either then!

Sorry - I did not think that the two versions were all that different.

I just looked at the GameBoomers walkthrough for the original and it just says to follow the instructions and beat the Martians.

Yea, but guess what? While I was in here typing, the game won itself and I was able to continue. I immediately saved and picked up the explosives, then I did get some error telling me to Ctrll Q but that didn't work so I did Alt F4 to try to get out of the game and that cleared the error but did not close the game. I completed the sequence and ended the Alien film, saved and exited out of the game. It appears it will be okay when I go back in.

Phew!

I'm not sure how different the versions are in terms of puzzling except one is more text. I did play the Lifestream storycentric version though and I liked it. I have The Film Maker storycentric version but had never played this old version so I thought I'd play it while I can. I recently played the original version of Shadybrook too for the first time and will eventually play the storycentric version. With Lifestream I played the original after the storycentric but too soon after so I didn't enjoy it as much.

Thank you.

Well, that's good news. Glad you got past it!

The only one of the group I have played is the original Shady Brook. I enjoyed it.

I have the original 2 disc version of The Filmmaker but I don't think I ever got to the end of it. I don't remember what caused me to give up, but if you make it through to the end, I'll give it another shot. Keep us informed.

Do you have an XP computer to play the game in Uncle Reg? It does say it plays in Windows 7 but that there might be some issues so I didn't even bother to try it. It's running pretty good in my XP though.

Argh! Why do good games always have something to ruin them?

I am at the last puzzle which is timed. You have to find your way to a (easy) puzzle to get something and then find your way back to use that something. So far it seems to be impossible to find my way back. Once I got behind the guy but I need to be in front of him and couldn't get there. I had to use the Windows key so I could get to Task Manager to end the task to get out of the game so I can go to bed and try again tomorrow when I will hopefully be refreshed enough to be able to complete the game.

The walkthrough has some "directions" to the puzzle but the third step isn't right. I was hoping I could follow it and reverse the steps but, nope!

Well, good luck with it. I really dislike most timed puzzles.

Thanks Marian. I could not gather the enthusiasm to attempt this all day but finally gave it a shot. I didn't panic and managed to finally solve it after only 3 attempts tonight. So, game over!

A pretty good game except for the arcade game (which I think must be set to let you win after 5 attempts or so) and this timed bit. Some puzzles I didn't care for like most of the riddles in one of the "films". I used a walkthrough several times (for half of those riddles and in a few other areas when I needed a push).

Glad you finished it. And it's good to know more about the game and to hear what you thought of it.

I had forgotten about those Windows 7 issues. From your description I'm sure I never finished it, but what I played was on Windows 7. I remember now getting to the part about playing the films in the projector room, but that's as far as I got. It might have been some of those Windows 7 issues that caused me to quit, I don't remember for sure.

So, you're not going to attempt it again Uncle Reg? Or try the new version from a few years ago!

I'm giving it a go, at least until I get to the part where I stopped the first time. I have a vague memory of It not being any Windows 7 issues, but more along the lines of something that I just couldn't figure out. I have completed what I guess would be classified as the 1st chapter, finding all the shards. Now I'm starting out in a dark theater. I think the projection room stuff is coming up shortly, which is where I quit the first time.

Use the walkthrough if you have to although it won't help with the arcade game. I DO think that wins itself after about 5 tries though. Just get 2 of them if you can and then leave the game to itself. Worked for me anyway. Good luck!

Uncle Reg - are you still playing? How's it going?

I got so frustrated that I had to take a break. I made it through the first movie, but not without a lot of hair pulling. I got to a point where I thought that I knew exactly what I had to do, but it just wouldn't work. I didn't realize that I had to
After I realized my problem, I finished the first movie with no problem, and that's where I stopped. I just had to take a break from all that frustration. I'll probably get back to it after a cooling off period. This is further than I got the first time I played, and I really haven't found the reason why I quit. So far I have not encountered any of those Windows 7 issues.

Ah yes. There are some very frustrating moments in the game. Taking a break is a good idea! Hopefully you will be able to finish it though. Good luck an keep us posted.