They Came From Hollywood

They Came From Hollywood is cancelled PC game by Octopus Motor. It was to be a Real Time Strategy game.

Gameplay
The game was to be a 2.5D RTS game. Select a monster, customize it, and lay waste to a variety of cities. The monsters would derive from Harold Haxton, a fictional filmmaker and associate of Ed Wood.

The aim of the game is to rack up a high score. You get points for destroying buildings and killing civilians. You get bonus points for destroying landmarks and killing military and scientists,

There were to be twelve controllable monsters. Each is lifted from a fictional film of Harold Haxton.

Hidden in the game are special holiday-themed monsters:

There were to be seven cities. Each would have unique attractions to destroy for bonus points.

You can choose four different time periods. Each has different NPCs and technology.

There several kinds of NPCs to watch out for:
 * Paramilitary: cops, SWAT teams, and Hazmat teams
 * Military: advance enemies with tanks and better weaponry
 * Scientists: will get close to your monster to learn its weaknesses
 * Press: like scientists but less effective yet more numerous
 * B.A.M.R.O: army division with mechs and laser weapons

Development
They Came From Hollywood was in development on and off for a decade. The game's immense development time was due to only having two employees. The married couple would work on and off, taking on other projects to pay the bills.

Octopus Motor dev team:
 * Lars Norpchen: programmer, designer, 3D modeler
 * Jenny Sparks aka Sparky: designer, writer, webmaster

There were to be several planned expansion packs:

Later on in development support for the PC Dance Pad was added.

In December 2004 Octopus Motor started the Abe Vigoda running gag on the game's website. It was a humerous jab at the game's seemingly dead (cancelled) status.

Cancellation
Development of the game ceased around 2008 and 2009. The game was never outright cancelled. The devs diverted their resources to a proper (paying) projects, never to return.

Timeline:
 * 2001: Octopus Motor founded, development starts
 * 2002: game announced
 * 2003: Giant Pea and holiday monsters added
 * 2004: beginning of the Abe Vigoda running gag
 * 2007: API switched to DirectX 3D
 * 2008: asset pipeline rewritten
 * 2009: last time the official website was updated