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[ZombieSupaStar]

Having bought both Booking Mpire and Wrestling Mpire

I can say Ill be buying this also (support your garage devs damnit)

for being a 1 man team he does some cool things, and brings gametypes you wont see in the "movielike era" gaming devs are in right now.

Popscene Preview


Also check out his Booking Game and Wrestling game (altho you could say the booking game is the best of both worlds with fed sim gameplay AND actual in game wrestling also, something which other wrestling fed games LACK)

Mdickes Games

Popscene




Previous Developments
Find out even more about the game by trawling through the archives...



Will my retirement from wrestling prove to be the best move i ever made, or the biggest mistake? Hoping to prove otherwise comes "Popscene" - a music simulator in the mould of the Wrestling MPire series. God knows the music business has just as many vibrant personalities as wrestling does, so let's see what they could be getting up to...

Record Breaker
The DJ equipment that i've been promising has finally joined the range of instruments. It looks as good as any other instrument, and boasts some nice little animations for handling the decks. It's perfect for solo DJ performers - or better yet, as back-up for the hip hop artists...

Studio Time
A nice looking recording studio has been built and furnished with equipment - complete with a window that separates the producers and the band! There isn't actually a crew on the scene yet, but that'll come soon enough. The location has already been put to use though. It's here that you come to record new tracks or rehearse your existing ones. The set will probably be used for radio appearances as well, since the layout is practically the same...

Changing Tracks
The recording studio is accompanied by an interface to edit your playlist. You insert a CD (or specify a folder full of MP3's) to work from, and then spend the following weeks "unlocking" each available track - much like producing arena improvements in Booking MPire! Each track can then be given a name of your choice, a style in which it should be performed (i.e. rap, ballad, heavy, etc.), and a tone in which it should be delivered (angry, happy, etc.). Those are just cosmetic choices that ensure the song reflects its real-life counterpart though. The important values, which govern its potential, are beyond your control. Upon being discovered, each track is christened with an "entertainment" rating and an "artistic" rating. Entertaining songs are crowd-pleasers that are easier to sell, whereas artistic ones are more thoughtful tracks that warrant critical acclaim. Some excel in either area, some excel in both, and some are just plain useless! What you are blessed with is somewhat random, but it is largely influenced by how strong your production team is. You need a good producer in the team to ensure pop success, and you need a good writer for artistry...

Crowd Control
The latest development is that you can now take your records into the outside world. I've been busy re-designing the locations for this new game - which basically means piling in some customers! The bar from Big BumpZ is now packed to the rafters with onlookers that shuffle around to your tunes. Unfortunately, we're talking about the same cardboard cut-out crowd from previous games. Short of filling the arenas with thousands of actual people, there's very little you can do about these things! The professionals only achieve it by removing your ability to control the camera - and i'm not one for doing that. That said, the crowd does look effective from most angles. It's just the occasional stray angle that shows them up for the cardboard cut-outs that they are...

Bright Lights, Big City
In addition to the bar, i've also been working on brand new locations. Introducing the stadium; which should be the ultimate venue for any artist! It looks as good as i could have hoped - boasting a nice dome shape that feels very atmospheric. It bears more than a passing resemblance to the wrestling arena (thanks to the same background image). Speaking of which, the wrestling arena will actually be a venue in itself! You should be able to step into the ring and perform a couple of tracks to celebrate big events like Wrestlemania. In addition to gimmicky venues like that, there'll be plenty of other places to perform. Afterall, building up a fanbase is a slow process. You'll start on the streets and in bars, before progressing to concert halls and stadiums. Beyond that, there'll even be huge outdoor festivals too...

Is There Anybody Out There?
The attendances will vary as much as the actual venues. Much like in the wrestling games, your drawing power will affect how many people show up on the scene. The packed bar mentioned earlier could all too easily become an empty embarrassment! Even the halls and stadiums are designed to portray different levels of attendance...

Audience Participation
You'll feel the difference in the sound of the crowd as much as anything else. The crowd effects from the wrestling games have returned to voice their opinion on music too! It's actually a more sophisticated system this time though. The "entertainment" and "artistry" values of each song will directly affect what kind of reaction you hear. Entertaining songs are met with varying cheers (or jeers), whilst artistic songs are met with respectful applause (or laughter!). The system hasn't been fully implemented yet, but it already looks set to be an effective part of the game. If nothing else, it stops the game from feeling like a glorified CD player! The background noise of a crowd really makes the music feel like an integral part of the world...

Elvis Has Entered The Building!
While i've been concentrating on the arenas, i'm afraid the characters have had to take a backseat. One or two developments continue to be made though. I was struggling to make achieve the Elvis look with my existing models, so i made a whole new one dedicated to him! It features a longer jaw and a more elaborate version of the quiff. He's even got his own sparkling white suit and a dedicated face texture (although it's not too clear from the screenshot). Although he's dead, characters such as Presley will actually be alive for the sake of the game. By default, the "Deceased" pool will only be populated by artists that die in your world. As in reality, there is life after death though - as they'll release posthumous records! There'll even be memorial shows too, so expect this game to be just as sentimental as the wrestling series...