games

The Sims 2 PC - The Sims 2 is a great choice for creating machinima as you can film within the game. You can use various cheats and hacks so that you don't have to worry about keeping the sims happy or earning money. You can just get on and film.
  • If you buy the Nightlife expansion pack, you can put in a cheat (hold CTRL-SHIFT-C) showHeadlines [on/off] - This makes all thought balloons, speech balloons, and ++/-- type headlines hidden/visible.
  • If you don't have Nightlife, remove the plumbob and speech and thought bubbles with a patch from Simlogical.com.
  • Download custom content from modthesims2.com or use their tutorials etc to learn how to do it yourself.
  • To give your household $50,000 type "motherlode" in the cheat cli (CTRL+SHIFT+c)
  • In neighbourhood view, type "boolProp TestingCheatsEnabled true" in the cheat cli to have complete control over your sims' needs.
  • Learn how to make good movies with the The Sims 2 Movie maker tutorial
You can also get The Sims 2 for the Mac.
The Sims University - The Sims 2 University is an expansion pack for The Sims 2, so you have to own The Sims 2 for it to run. The best thing about this expansion pack is that your sims can play musical instruments, fantastic for creating music videos.
The Sims Nightlife - The Sims 2 Nightlife is an expansion pack for The Sims 2, so you have to own The Sims 2 for it to run. The best thing about this expansion pack is that your sims can now own cars. There are also DJs and karaoke as well as various other nightlife things, great for films and music videos.
The Sims 2 Open for Business - The Sims 2 Open for Business is an expansion pack for The Sims 2, so you have to own The Sims 2 for it to run. The best thing about this expansion pack is that there are robots and various other new things to add to your films.
The Movies - The Movies is now out! It contains everything you need to make fantastic machinima. You can even record the dialogue and the game will automatically lip synch the animated characters' lips. There are loads of scenes and characters to create drama, sci-fi, horror, westerns and much more. A community at themoviesplanet.com has already started to create custom content.
  • If you don't want to bother with the Sim part of the game (running the studio etc) then you can either
    • go into Sandbox mode and leave it running all night, which will unlock loads of stuff, or
    • the following "hackette"
      1. Turn on "Show Hidden Files and Folders" in Tools > Folder Options of any Folder window.
      2. Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\[Your User Name]\Application Data\Lionhead Studios\The Movies\Unlocking.ini (Where [Your User Name] is the name you use to login to the computer)
      3. Look for the Unlocking.ini file. If it's not there, create it.
      4. Double click the file, to edit. Change the file so it looks exactly like this:
        highest_decade = 2000
        [prizes]
        RANKPRIZE_1
        RANKPRIZE_2
        RANKPRIZE_3
        RANKPRIZE_4
        RANKPRIZE_5
        RANKPRIZE_6
        RANKPRIZE_7
        RANKPRIZE_8
        RANKPRIZE_9
        RANKPRIZE_10
        RANKPRIZE_11
        RANKPRIZE_12
        RANKPRIZE_13
        RANKPRIZE_14
        RANKPRIZE_15
        RANKPRIZE_16
        RANKPRIZE_17
        RANKPRIZE_18
        RANKPRIZE_19
        RANKPRIZE_20
        RANKPRIZE_21
        RANKPRIZE_22
        RANKPRIZE_23
        RANKPRIZE_24
        RANKPRIZE_25
        RANKPRIZE_26
        RANKPRIZE_27
        RANKPRIZE_28
        RANKPRIZE_29
        RANKPRIZE_30
        RANKPRIZE_31
        RANKPRIZE_32
        RANKPRIZE_33
        RANKPRIZE_34
        RANKPRIZE_35
        RANKPRIZE_36
        RANKPRIZE_37
        RANKPRIZE_38
        RANKPRIZE_39
        RANKPRIZE_40
      5. Save the file.
      6. Now start a sandbox mode game. If you start it in the year 2000, you will have everything unlocked, and available for play.
      If you do not have an unlocking.ini file, create one.
The Movies: Stunts & Effects Expansion Pack (PC DVD). You must have The Movies for this to work. Include incredible special effects in your films. From car crashes and changing weather to explosions, shattering glass and smoke, transform an ordinary action sequence into a cinematic showstopper.
Machinima.com have put together a production kit. It includes everything you need to start making machinima with Quake 2, including a specially modified version of Quake 2 by Strange Company.
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2). One of the few games that could be considered art in its own right, this is begging to be made into machinima. Gorgeous landscapes and fabulous animations. You can get footage without the hero by gaining the Cloak of Deception in Time Trial mode. This makes the hero invisible, meaning you can film panoramas, close-ups of the Colossi, eagle and hawk flights and fish.
Jaws Unleashed (PC). Released July. Totally can't wait for this one. You play as the shark, so you can make your own Jaws movies from the point of view of the shark.
Half Life 2
Half life 2 X-box
Quake 4
Battlefield Vietnam
Unreal Tournament
Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights machinima tutorial
Quake 3 Arena
Quake 3 Gold
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Software development kits for various games