As a man of innovation, it pains me to dive into yet another remake of yet another industry sim - but there's one last project that deserves to make use of Reach's graphical advances. The music industry simulator, Popscene, remains my most popular concept outside of wrestling - and after sitting on the sidelines for 4 long years, there's a lot for it to catch up on! Here's how the developments of the latest games are helping to make this old one something special...

17th July 2008
The new character model even looks better in silhouette, as we can now see from Popscene 2's updated new logo! It's the same old concept, but with sharper new images this time and a "2" clamped onto the side to remind you that it's a sequel. If your memory needs refreshing, this is how the clunky old logo looked at this stage. This new identity has arrived just in time to wrap things up. Everything is hurtling along nicely towards the finish line, and the project should be complete by the end of the month. The range of venues has been finalized (along with the process of booking them), characters are pouring in on a daily basis, and the career possibilities are being brought up to date - with court cases once again joining the various meetings and negotiations. All good stuff that should hit the spot with anyone that was remotely entertained by the last game...

10th July 2008
Classic MDickie scenes continue to pour into the game to pad out the selection of venues. As you can see, the latest is the coast from Wrecked. And it's joined by the military base from Sure Shot 3D, the cinema from Popcorn, and even the prison block from Hard Time (which is strangely appropriate for re-enacting Johnny Cash's famous gig!). Elsewhere, even the most ordinary of locations have been re-worked as places to perform - ranging from the office to the courtroom. The only downside to all of this is that bizarre locations seem to outrank realistic ones by 10 to 1 - but I'll figure out a way of keeping things in check. The venue booking system is just about to go into production when the range of stages is 100% finalized...

2nd July 2008
Rest assured that all is quiet because I'm too busy to talk about the games nowadays - NOT because progress isn't being made! On the contrary, the Popscene remake has finally hit its stride and is progressing very well indeed in many key areas. The range of venues continues to be expanded and updated on a daily basis, with many classic locations from other games being reworked for this one. A couple of recent examples are the suburban street from Popcorn and the ghetto-like city streets of Grass Roots - both of which are superior replacements for the crappy old street setting from the last game. Some old favourites have also been refurbished - such as the music store, which no longer feels so claustrophobic thanks to windows that look out onto the street. Meanwhile, the character possibilities promise to be equally improved. There's already a vast array of casual wear that goes far beyond what we had in Wrestling MPire 2008 or Reach, and all kinds of dedicated new faces are seeping in to help with the caricatures. Hip Hop artists are faring particularly well - with a great Pharrell Williams and a good Jay-Z already in the vault. However, one of the things I was most excited about was making the meetings in this game as visually interesting as they have been in recent games. Not only do the office meetings benefit from that great skyline view, but the band meetings also benefit from actually taking place inside the studio. You talk to your band members in various parts of that room as surely as you did in the locker rooms of the fighting games, and as you can tell from the shot it's even possible to sit and chat next to the mixing desk! All great stuff that makes the process seem more involving than ever before...

23rd June 2008
The new version of Popscene continues to progress slowly but surely. Mostly boring behind-the-scenes stuff that involves re-introducing key parts of the game engine - such as publishing, meetings, news reports, and reviews. The meetings, in particular, have improved drastically since 2004's ugly Popscene and now make use of Reach's nice office with a skyline view! Most noticeably, the camera work is smoother too. Not to mention the fact that contract negotiations are more sophisticated than ever and pan out perfectly. Elsewhere, I'm slowly getting a grip on the characterization by finalizing the range of costumes and adding more that are unique to this game. That basically means a hell of a lot more casual wear than we ever saw in the fighting games! The caricatures are coming along better this time too, with Justin Timberlake (above far right) more recognizable now that he has a curious penchant for waistcoats and ties. However, I must say that famous faces will be a lot rarer this time. I felt they spoiled the game last time because they all had to be somewhat talented (otherwise they wouldn't be particularly famous!). I'll be throwing in a lot more unpredictable fictitious characters this time. That's more fun for me too...

14th June 2008
One development that I couldn't quite shoehorn into the latest update is that Popscene has tinkered with the editing possibilities a little. As in real life, the characters are slimmer than wrestlers by default so I had to make sure the "Slim" model was especially thin this time. The "Normal" model looks positively muscular by comparison, so things are definitely being put into perspective! We can expect a similarly modified "Female" model soon too (the one shown above is still a weighty wrestler). This game also does away with "Weight" as a means of choosing the model, and once again allows you to select a specific build. That freed me up to reinstate the "Big Jaw" and "Chubby Cheeks" variations, which are handy for caricatures of people like Elvis and Jay-Z respectively. An entirely new development is that there's now a separate "Accessory" option for applying things like jewellery and watches as if they were hats or spectacles. As in Hard Time, they're 3D too so they look better than they would as 2D drawings (and it also means they can be mixed and matched with ANY outfit)...

9th June 2008
In amongst the day-to-day slog of getting the game engine back up and running, the new and improved venues continue to build up. As you can see above, there's a new stadium venue that's largely based on the latest wrestling arena (which is quite appropriate when you consider that most music venues are altered sports venues in real life). It replaces the northern seating area with a huge stage and fills the empty ring area with moshers to create a realistic sea of people. Basically, it looks like a real building this time instead of a stage surrounded by random faces. The outdoor festival locations have been similarly modified, with better crowd sprites stretching back towards a realistic horizon. The very latest addition is a modified bar scene, which takes the same structure as last time but fulfils its potential with all the usual 2008 trimmings - from framed doors and light fittings to decorative plants and other furniture. Speaking of light fittings, one of the biggest developments since last time is that the lighting effects are as good as they were during Reach's entrances. That basically means we've got bulbs shining and colours changing all over the place instead of one all-encompassing light...

3rd June 2008
The range of instruments has already been brought up to speed with the original Popscene thanks to the arrival of the keyboard and the DJ decks. Compared to the new guitars and drum kit, they're relatively unchanged - with only slightly improved textures painted onto the same old modelling. That's a big step forward in the case of the keyboard though, which finally has a proper key layout. Now that I'm a pianist, it's with some embarrassment that I look back on what I thought passed for a keyboard the first time around! The individual fingers also ensure that the instrument is played with a little more precision too. The decks also benefit from being a little more interactive this time - with real discs that turn to match the actions of each hand. Now that the basics of a performance are in place, I've finally been able to turn my attention to the locations too. Up until now the musicians have been plying their trade in Wrestling MPire 2008's ring, but I'm slowly working through dozens of classic sets to make them compatible for this game. First up was the recording studio itself, which is structurally the same but has benefited from all the usual trimmings of framed doors, high resolution wall textures, and light fittings on the ceiling. Tiny adjustments that make all the difference in the world, as this crusty old shot testifies...

27th May 2008
I can't promise Popscene 2 will be a "conceptual" revolution, but it's already guaranteed to be a visual one! The revamped new instruments continue to complement the improved character models. As you can see, a polished new drum kit is the latest example. It has been redrawn from scratch with a more realistic structure (including a hi-hat instead of 2 cymbals) and better texturing. The animation for interacting with it is equally good too - right down to the cymbals shaking every time they're struck! Even the microphone has been redrawn for the first time in 5 years. It's such a small piece of equipment that I never worried about it before, but I thought I might as well give it an overhaul for this game. The result isn't drastically different, but it is noticeably better when the camera gets up close. So far the only downside is that the animations aren't as foolproof as I'd like (although they're still substantially better than what we had before). As with walking animations, the problem is that you're taking lengthy, unpredictable movements and trying to break them down into short loops - which can be painfully noticeable at times. Still, I'll be hoping to alleviate the repetition by throwing more routines in than ever and having the performers switch between them from moment to moment. If you'd like to put things in perspective once again, I'll leave you with a reminder that this is what the drum kit looked like last time...

25th May 2008
The promised sequel to Popscene has been progressing slowly but surely all month, and already looks set to be special! The new and improved visual style was always going to guarantee that the characters looked better than before, and the instruments have been quick to follow suit. As you can see, they've already got their hands on a vastly modified guitar - which boasts a more realistic shape and polished high resolution texturing. It even features real 3D strings this time rather than painted on ones! The superior character modelling and animation helps the characters get to grips with it too. It's easy to forget that the characters didn't even have individual fingers last time, but now they're gripping and interacting with the instruments properly. For those of you that like to put things in perspective, this is what the original Popscene looked like at this stage 4 years ago...