NEWS
June 03, 2010 - Two additional reviews have been released, from Adventure Gamers and Adventure Point. You can read them on the Reviews Section of this site. Also, a new interview with developer Christopher Brendel has been posted at Adventure Classic Gaming! You can read that here.
May 06, 2010 - The Filmmaker’s first review is out! Check out the Gameboomers review here. Additional reviews are forthcoming. You can keep track of them by visiting the Reviews Section of this site.
April 25, 2010 - An interview with game developer Christopher Brendel has appeared on Adventure-Treff! You can read the English version here and the German version here.
April 22, 2010 - A few customers have reported that their anti-virus software is detecting The Filmmaker’s setup.exe file as malware! I am deeply embarrassed by this situation and can assure you all that this is a false positive. I created the setup.exe file myself. All it contains is a splash screen asking you to please choose your operating system. When you click on the appropriate system, then the program runs either “TheFilmmaker.exe” or “TheFilmmakerWin7.exe”, depending on your operating system.
If you would prefer to be extra safe, you can bypass setup.exe and install the game manually. If you use Windows XP or Vista, then run “TheFilmmaker.exe”. If you use Windows 7, then run “TheFilmmakerWin7.exe”.
Known anti-virus programs currently detecting setup.exe as malware are: Avira. If you use a different anti-virus software that has detected setup.exe as malware, please let me know. I will update this list as needed.
If your anti-virus software detects setup.exe as malware, then please also send the file to your anti-virus software provider, so that they may analyze it an approve the file so this issue does not continue to happen.
I have submitted setup.exe to every anti-virus software provider I can find. Until they clear the file, though, this is, sadly, out of my hands.
It is worth noting that this has become a major problem for independent developers such as myself. Many anti-virus programs have become overly aggressive and are blocking custom-made programs such as this one. You can read about this sad issue here.
I thank you all for your patience and understanding.
April 19, 2010 - The Filmmaker has been officially released. Enjoy the game, everyone!
April 08, 2010 - The Filmmaker now available for preorder! Buy it today at the Unimatrix Productions Store!
March 29, 2010 - The Filmmaker has gone gold! Expect the game to be for sale within a month. I will begin taking pre-orders within two weeks.
February 20, 2010 - Phase 1 of beta testing is now complete. Starting Monday, I will be moving on to Phase 2, which will consist solely of Windows 7 testing. Hopefully, it will go a bit faster than Phase 1 did! Once Phase 2 is complete, the game will go gold!
January 17, 2010 - Just a quick heads up to let everyone know that beta testing has officially begun! I have decided to split beta testing up into two phases. This first phase involves testing the game on all non-Windows 7 platforms. During this phase, I will be looking for feedback relating both to technical performance and gameplay content. Once this phase is complete and I update the game as needed, phase two will begin. Phase two will consist of Windows 7 testing, to ensure that the game is fully compatible with Windows 7. I’ll keep you updated as testing continues.
January 01, 2010 - Happy New Year, everyone! To celebrate the new year and the coming release of The Filmmaker, I have remade the entire website and added many new images to the Screenshots section of the site. It won’t be long now before The Filmmaker is ready for release! The Adventure Maker game engine has been updated and is now semi-compatible with Windows 7. So far, testing The Filmmaker on Windows 7 has been promising. I think that, with a few changes, the game will be fully compatible! I’d like to take a moment to thank the developer of the Adventure Maker engine for the super fast assistance in this matter. Stay tuned for more information on The Filmmaker’s upcoming beta and release. In the meantime, check out the updated Unimatrix Productions site, which contains several new areas, including a mailing list and developer’s blog!
November 20, 2009 - I am proud to announce that The Filmmaker is now complete! Don't go rejoicing quite yet, though... There's one small problem: the game engine that The Filmmaker uses has not yet been updated to become compatible with Windows 7. To make matters a bit worse, the creator of the engine is MIA. Since the engine is close-sourced, I am unable to update the engine on my end. I am trying a few crafty workarounds, but until the game works on Windows 7, I will have to hold off beta testing. I don't anticipate this taking longer than a month or two, at the very most. It will go even faster if the engine creator reappears and updates the engine! In the meantime, I will be spending my spare time adding odds and ends to the game, to make it even longer! Just how long IS The Filmmaker? As of now, the game is over 1500 frames long, with over 35 puzzles! For comparison, Lifestream and Shady Brook were both under 750 frames. It shouldn't be much of a long wait now! Thanks to everyone for your patience!
September 07, 2009 - I've had some technical difficulties as of late. Sadly, my computer completely crashed about four weeks ago. The good news is that I had backed up all of my data recently prior to the crash, so I didn't lose much work on The Filmmaker. The bad news is that I've had to spend the last four weeks fixing my computer and not working on the game. As a result, I am not going to be able to make the October release date at this point and time. I am finally back up and running now, and so I will be re-doubling my efforts to get the game done. I've finally finished all of the game's theater scenes, leaving only the movie environments themselves to work on. Once those are done, beta testing will begin! As always, thank you all in advance for your continued interest and support.
August 10, 2009 - Just a quick update for everyone: I've finished working on the theater portion of the game. All that remains now is putting together all of the puzzles and explorable content for the movies in which the player can explore. In other words, I'm about 75% done with the game! Also, I have added a new link to the game demo, which is now available at AtomicGamer.
June 15, 2009 - The Filmmaker Demo is now available! Check the Downloads page for details. Special thanks to all who beta tested the demo!
June 07, 2009 - I'm still hard at work on the game demo. Beta testing has been ongoing for the past few weeks, and I am making appropriate changes based on the feedback I receive. The demo should be ready in a week or so, unless any large bugs arise. For reference, the demo will comprise the first 5-10% of the game, which can be considered half of the game's "prologue", before the story really takes off.
May 12, 2009 - Just a heads up to everyone that I am currently working on a playable demo, which should be out within the next few weeks. Progress on The Filmmaker is coming along nicely, and the first third of the game is now fully complete and playable!
April 10, 2009 - The Filmmaker press release has been sent out to websites. A copy follows:
Unimatrix Productions Announces New Adventure Game Titled "The Filmmaker"
After hinting at it for several months, Christopher Brendel has announced today that Unimatrix Productions is developing a new independent game titled "The Filmmaker". Due to be released this summer, "The Filmmaker" will be a first-person puzzle-based adventure with pre-rendered graphics, in the tradition of classic games such as Myst and The 7th Guest. For details, fans may visit the game's website (still in development) at www.unimatrixproductions.com/filmmaker.
In "The Filmmaker", players explore a haunted theater, in an attempt to uncover the mysteries within. As part of their journey, players must go inside several movies created by one particular filmmaker, an enigmatic stranger named Claude Ferucil.
As opposed to being story-centric, as was the case with Unimatrix Production's previous games, "The Filmmaker" is puzzle-centric. It features more than twenty unique puzzles of varying types. Instead of presenting a cinematic story that develops as the game progresses, "The Filmmaker"'s storyline unfolds through exploration, puzzle-solving, and reading. "The Filmmaker" will most likely be rated "Teen" or the equivilent.
Some fans may wonder what this means for Unimatrix Productions's ongoing project, "Stonewall Penitentiary". Production began on "The Filmmaker" specifically because development on "Stonewall Penitentiary" was put on hold, due to financial concerns. Christopher Brendel wishes to reassure fans, however, that work on "Stonewall Penitentiary" will be completed, following the release of "The Filmmaker".
About UNIMATRIX PRODUCTIONS
Unimatrix Productions was founded in 2000. Run exclusively by Christopher Brendel, Unimatrix Productions has already developed and published two adventure games, "Lifestream" and "Shady Brook". Additional games are on the horizon following the release of "The Filmmaker" and "Stonewall Penitentiary". Brendel's other works include several works of fiction, a fan-based film, an upcoming CGI series, and the soundtrack to the independent adventure game "The Arrangement".
http://www.unimatrixproductions.com
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March 17, 2009 - The Filmmaker website goes live!