Cinema Tycoon 2: Movie Mania

Welcome to the Cinema Tycoon 2: Movie Mania Help. This help file will go through how to play the game in more detail than the tutorial provided. Also, since a lot of people played the original Cinema Tycoon and have downloaded this version but want to know what the key differences are, we have detailed them below:

· More Movies - We increased the number of movies and movie genres in Cinema Tycoon 2.

· Multiple Levels - Cinema Tycoon 2 has 10 unique levels, each with a different goal.

· Characters - There are characters you will interact with and who will give you information. These include townsfolk and competitors.

· Purchase Movies - In Cinema Tycoon, you “rented” a movie for a set amount of time. When that time ran out the movie went away. In Cinema Tycoon 2 you buy the movie and can keep it running as long as you want. As in the real movie business, though movies don’t stay hot forever.

· New Upgrades - We added more upgrades to make your theater better .

· Employees - In Cinema Tycoon, you upgraded your employees. In Cinema Tycoon 2, you need to make sure you have enough employees to run the theater. For example, if you have 4 ticket windows, you will need 4 cashiers. Best of all, you can hire and fire your staff.

Lets get started with the Cinema Tycoon 2 help. When you start the game you will be asked to input your name. After you do this, click on the start button. This will bring you to a map. Click on McGee’s Crossroads in the upper left corner of the map.

Getting Started

Buying Movies

The first thing we need to do is buy a movie. Clicking on the Films tab at the top of the screen will take you to the movie management screen. This is where you can buy, sell and place movies into theaters. This screen is broken up into three areas, Films Available, Films Playing and Screens .

Films Available is the section where you buy your movies. Clicking on the genre tabs will bring up the different movies in each of those genres. From time to time, a Hot and Cold icon will show up on genres that are popular or unpopular at the time. Paying close attention to this will help you maximize your profits. Once you click on a movie, you will see some information about it to the right.

This will give you pertinent information such as rating, film type ( A, B, AAA ) and a brief description. It will also have notes from critics. Remember, movies that are reviewed well don’t always make the most money. Once you have purchased your movie, you’ll need to assign it to a screen. Do this by clicking on the screen image in the Films Playing area.

Click on this screen to show the movie you purchased here. As you add new screens you will need to assign movies to these screens by following the above instructions. Remember you can have one movie playing on multiple screens or have different movies playing on different screens.

Keep an eye on how your movie is doing. As in the real world, the movie will start to lose its attractiveness to customers after a while. Customers always want to see the latest movies coming out. You will need to watch closely to see when it's time to switch films. Don’t replace your movie too soon, try to milk as much cash out of it as you can. Use the film graph to see how your movie is doing.

Once you have decided that your current movies run is over, you will need to sell it back to the distribution network. Do this by clicking on the “Sell” button in the Films Playing section. Selling it back will allow you to get a small fraction of the purchase price back.

In the Screens area you can see how long your movie has been playing, what capacity its at ( how full it is ) and its profit.

Upgrading the Theater

To make more money you need to get more people into your theater. To get more people into your theater you need to upgrade it. Upgrades are broken up into 7 categories. These are:

Projectors - You need projectors to play your movies. Each projector will allow to show different types of movies.

Sound Systems - Customers will appreciate good sound. Upgrading this will increase customer satisfaction.

Seats - Adding more seats is a sure fire way to increase ticket sales.

Screens - Also a surefire way to increase revenue is to increase screens. This is actually one of the most important upgrades you can make. Being able to show more than one movie at a time will increase revenue dramatically.

Snack Bar - Many new items to choose from. Another way to keep those customers happy.

Advertising - Advertising informs customers of your business. This is a good way to take away customers from your competitors.

Parking - Having enough parking spaces ensures your customers can easily and safely get to the theater.

Windows - When lines start to back up, it may be time to add another window. Types of windows that can cut down on lines are, Ticket Windows and Snack Windows.

Arcade - Adding an arcade helps keep customers occupied while they wait for the movie to start. It can also be a great revenue generator.

Hiring Staff

As you upgrade your theater and start servicing more customers, you will need to hire more employees to keep things running smoothly. In the original Cinema Tycoon you upgraded employees, not increased the number. In Cinema Tycoon 2, you need to increase the number of employees. For instance, if you upgrade to four snack windows, you will need to hire four employees to work these windows. Make sure you don’t hire too many people. For example, having more than one Inventory Control Manager is usually unnecessary. Hiring too many people can hurt your bottom line as much as not having enough.

Advertising

Advertising is important to get the word out on your cinema. The more money you spend on Advertising the more people will come to your theater. Be careful how much money you spend early on. This is a sure way to go bankrupt. Each advertising type has different levels of effectiveness as you increase the amount of money you spend.

Reviewing Reports

In order to see how your business is doing, you will want to review Reports . There are a few different reports you can check out. Each report is broken out into graphs and tables.