Strategy Guide - Guide for Moviewood
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You can send patches for this guide on Github: https://github.com/sebffvr/faq-moviewood This FAQ is largely complete though I am still adding some hints. It is based on the iOS/iPad version of this game. * About Moviewood Moviewood is a hidden object / social game that is not particularly brilliant or complicated, but which I have found annoyingly compulsive. It has an online/social component and I have noticed players miss some fundamental aspects of that interaction, hence this FAQ. Gameplay: By doing hidden object scenes you get XP and money that allow you to build up your movie lot and acquire and upgrade more scenes. Although you can buy in-game gold and cash with real money, it is possible to play the game without spending real money. * Important Tips: tl;dr: - You need to REQUEST props by clicking on the "head" (bottom right) part of the icon of a prop required for upgrade and then making a server connection by visiting a friend. Friends can NOT give you props if you don't request them. When someone gifts you a prop, you have to go click on your scene's upgrade pop-up for the same or a different prop again. See Giving and Receiving Props. - Never spend gold on anything temporary like speeding up the clock - it's rare and can only be obtained for real money in sufficient quantities. Save it for buying Sets you cannot acquire any other way. - Never gift the Baloon prop until you have upgraded the scenes that need them - they are extremely rare. - It is entirely possible to play the game without spending real money. If you really want to spend real money to support the developers, do it on the Lottery. The "buy gold" and "buy money" options are NOT a good deal. - Keep only three scenes you like on the lot so you can film scenes with them over and over racking full-chain bonuses. - If you read one section in this FAQ, read the 'Friends' section. * Game Mechanics ** Scenes To gain XP and cash, you have to "shoot movies". Each movie consists of three hidden object tableaux. Up to 13 hidden objects are in each scene. Getting all 13 rapidly gives you extra points. Scenes are built using Movie Coins - a new Scene opens roughly every other level. There are a fixed number of objects to be found in each scene at fixed locations; however some of them can be in one of two locations in any particular scene. Additional points can be earned when there is a handicap in the scene. These include - Dark (move the lit area around to find objects) - Fog - Water - Bubbles Also, sometimes scenes appear in their mirror image (no extra points are awarded for that). Scenes can be updated with Props (see the Props FAQ) after level 4. See the Scenes and Sets FAQ for a list of Scenes. ** Sets Sets drop Movie Coins in fixed time intervals and Props (seemingly randomly but a given set can only drop certain props - see the Props section). Sets are built using game cash. A new set opens every other level or so, usually alternating with scene. You can sell Sets but you shouldn't - you only recoup a tiny fraction of their cost, and they come in useful when you need multiples of a specific set for a task or for a prop drop. See the Scenes and Sets FAQ for a list of Sets. ** Tasks Tasks are missions assigned to you by the game. Completing tasks earns XP and Cash and occasionally other rewards such as scripts, actors or rare props. Once a day, two time-critical tasks are given - a short one (4 hours) and a long one (8 hours). These are the game's main source of XP growth, but never spend gold in order to complete them. They are usually do-able without, and if you can't do them never mind, there will be two more the next day. The tasks apper in the beginning of the "game day". Check the tasks before you collect movie coins, as the task may involve collecting a certain amount of movie coins from a particular set, and that only counts after you have opened the task. You do not have to accept the task. Closing the window is the same as playing the "Let's begin" or whatever acknowledgement button. ** Props Props are used to upgrade scenes to their maximum star value. Props are mainly dropped by sets; they also be obtained as rewards to Tasks occasionally. They can also be given to you by players that you have "friended" provided you have requested them - see 'Giving and Receiving Props'. For a list of available Props, the scenes they upgrade and the sets they drop of, see the Props FAQ ** Actors For a list of available actors see the Actors FAQ ** Hints There are three types of Hints available in Scenes: - Flash - Bomb - Chain Flash and Chain hints can be obtained for friends (see Giving and Receiving Hints). You start off the game with 10 Bomb Hints and that's pretty much it. Flash hints are best for the regular levels; occasionally there are levels that are either in the dark or that ask you to find one of three images rather than one of six words - chain hints work better for those. There is also an infinite "Camera" hint available, however it takes time to re-charge between uses. It is best to save hints for when you have to achieve a task, such as a high score in a particular scene, rather because you are bored/frustrated. If you can't find an item, just use a Camera hint. ** Expanding your lot Don't use gold to expand your lot. As the game progresses you can earn enough money to buy expansions in game cash. You can put a smaller (eg 2x2) set in a 3x3 block sized for scenes. It's best to keep a small number of scenes (see Strategy) and use as much of your lot of sets that drop props and movie coins. ** Decorations Decorations seem to have no particular purpose, though some will drop movie coins later in the game. See the Scenes and Sets FAQ for a list of those. ** Lottery The Lottery is, well, a lottery. It costs $1 of real money to play, so pace yourself. About 1 times in 5 you get something wortwhile, never anything spectacular or unobtainable by other means. Of all the ways to spend real money in the game, it's the one that can yield the best reward. But you know, you're still spending real money on virtual goods, so don't be dumb about it. * Strategy You have a number of script slots depending on your progress in the game. Say you have 8 script slots and you have just shot three movies in a row. You now have to wait for new scripts to be written (one per hour). If you go back to your lot and come back in three hours to open your list of scripts, the script slots will be populated with Scenes that are CURRENTLY BUILT ON YOUR LOT. Since most rewards come from getting a chain of all 13 hidden objects available in a scene, you will progress much faster if you pick three scenes you like to use over and over until you can reliably get the 13-item chain. You have to have at least 3 scenes on the lot at all times. If you need to do a task (eg. "shoot 5 movies with the Brig scene") build the Brig scene on your lot (by buying it or from your inventory) and stash your third scene in the inventory so you still only have three scenes on your lot. When you open the list of scripts, any unusued script slots will be populated (provided the scripts have had time to get written) with movies containing the Brig scene. Prioritise upgrading the scenes you use a lot as you earn more money for scenes that have more stars. Also, keep an eye for genre combinations that maximise your actor star power. For example using Jack Chine (3 stars Action, 3 stars Comedy) on a Comedy-Thriller will only give you 3 stars from him; using him in an Action-Comedy will result in all 6 of his stars being contributed to the movie (hence, a much higher profit). Some scripts are "Premium". That means that actors are available even if they are recharging (ie even if they are "resting" for normal scripts). Save those for time-critical tasks. For example if you have to shoot two movies within 4 hours with a given actor in the Drama genre, shoot a regular script in the Drama genre (if you have one) and then shoot a premium one straight way (if you have one). Another way to progress quickly is to make ample use of the Friend features. See Friends section. Build your scenes that you are requesting props for near the middle of your game lot - then they will be more visible to Friends who visit you. I find the Scenes pretty much unplayable on an iphone screen, but if you log onto gamecenter you can play your current game on your iPhone which will allow you to collect coins and visit friends in that boring class/meeting you're sitting in. * Friends (Screen: "Heads" -> Add) It is possible to play Moviewood without "friending" other players, but I wouldn't recommend it - friend gifting is by far the easiest way to obtain props, money, hints and XP. You can friend people you know through Gamecenter or Facebook; you can also friend random Moviewood players by inviting them (though it costs you 5 gold for 5 invites - use judiciously). You can also add friends by their in-game ID. For example, my in-game ID is e3d7a1b33639 (feel free to try it - I'm trying to figure out if there is a friend limit). If you play the game on multiple devices (eg. iPhone and iPad) you will have different IDs and can friend your other self. You cannot delete a friend once added. If there is a limit in how many you can have, I have not yet hit it (currently at ~ 50). If you pay gold for friend invites, you can't reject any of the offered choices and get different ones. You don't have to accept them, but not accepting them doesn't give you that slot back. Aside from building rare Sets, trading gold for friend invites (if you can't get your own) is the only other good use of gold in the game. ** Friending & Privacy Your real/Gamecenter identity is NOT exposed when you add friends by 'Random' or 'via ID'. The only thing a randomly added friend sees is your Moviewood alias. Set your Moviewood alias to something that does not identify you but that is reasonably distinctive. You cannot exhcnage messages or other content with friends. You can only collect gift them props (from your inventory) or hints (free to you). Hence it is a safe friending scheme for minors. Obviously if you are logged onto gamecenter your gamecenter ID is visible in rankings boards etc. ** Changing your Moviewood alias. If you do not change your Moviewood alias from the game default of "Player", you will be indistinguishable from every other person who has done the same - this is NOT good, as people tend to "gift back" if you give them something. You can change your in-game name by clicking on the pencil icon on the top right of the "Friends" screens. Again, you really want to do this in order to make yourself stand out. If I get a rare prop from 'Joe123' I am going to try and give them something they need if I have itlater; if I get one from 'Player' I have no idea which of the several 'Player's in my friends list it came from. You can delete the default 'Player' completely and replace it with your own name (some people seem to append, again, this does not help you stand out). You can use your native alphabet (Cyrillic etc) for your name but not Emojis. "Alice Star" is the default in-game friend (not a real person). She will neither gift you nor receive gifts. ** Visiting friends Visiting friends results in money and XP for you, and costs nothing to them, so do it daily. When you visit a friend you see money bubbles over their sets. You can pick up to three of these money drops - you collect money *and* XP when you do so. They then all go away until the next day. This does NOT cost your friend either money nor XP - you get it from the game. Over your friend's scenes you will either see nothing, or props they have requested (see Giving and Receiving Props). If you click on the requested prop, and you have one available, you can give that prop to the friend. You really do give that prop away - if you have 3 Blasters and you give one to a friend, you will have 2 left in your inventory. The stats at the top of the screen when you visit a friend (XP, cash) are YOUR stats, not theirs. Besides money and XP, friends' sets drop blueprints, which are required for upgrading scenes beyond level 3. ** Giving and Receiving Props This can be hard to realise as the game does not show you this in the demo part nor is it mentioned in the random tips between scenes often: You need to actively REQUEST props AND then making a server connection by visiting a friend. Friends can NOT give you props if you don't request them. You can request a prop by following those steps: 1. Having a scene on your lot 2. Clicking on "Upgrade" 3. Find a prop you are still missing 4. Clicking on the "head" icon on the bottom right of the prop picture ("Required" is then displayed on the prop picture) 5. Making a server connection by eg. visiting a friend. When someone gifts you a prop and you collect it, you have to go click on your scene's upgrade pop-up to re-request the same prop (if you need more) - collecting a gift clears your "request" flag for that prop. ASK FOR PROPS ESPECIALLY EARLY IN THE GAME. The game rewards players for giving you propos with money and XP (depending on the rarity of the item) and it costs you nothing. Asking for reasonably common propos will be more effective than the very rate props (everyone wants a balloon...). NOTE: The game cash reward you get for GIVING a prop seems to depend on your game level. Giving a prop with a 300 XP / 10,000 reward seems to give you approximately 10,000*0.5*(your game level). But it will only give you the XP listed (300) regardless. ** Giving and Receiving Hints You can gift each one of your friends a flash or chain hint once a day. These gifts are free you to you (your friend gets a hint, it costs you nothing). You can receive hints from your friends (they appear in the Friends Messages tab) but you can only collect 5 per day. Any hints you cannot collect because you have already collected 5 will remain in the messages section for another day. * Daily Gift If you check in every day with the "free gift" button (top right area of game screen) you get, depending on where you are in the five-day sequence: ($ == game money) - Day 1: $25,000 - Day 2: $50,000 - Day 3: $75,000 - Day 4: $100,000 - Day 5: Random Gift The Random Gift "roulette" is by far the most valuable, as it drops items that are rare / hard to get otherwise. Random Gift seemed to go away after ~ Level 30 but then it came back so maybe it was a glitch. You need to be connected to the network to get the daily gift. * Lot helpers There are two NPCs on the lot that offer to do things for you. The Moviecoin collector will collect all your moviecoin drops for a fixed number of days in exchange for gold. Don't use him - it's not a good use of gold. The Scriptwriter will offer to write a script either 100,000 in game cash or for 1 gold bar in a specific scene or genre. The 100,000 deal is good when you are looking for a specific genre in order to complete a task or to level up a genre. Don't take the 1 gold bar deal; after a day the price will go back down to the 100,000 price. As you can earn 200-300K with a single movie at later levels, that is a reasonable price. The Scriptwriter is useful when you need a specific genre to do a task. For getting a script with a specific scene, see the Strategy section. The Scriptwriter takes 1.5 hours to produce a script in the required scene or genre. Again, don't waste gold speeding up the clock.