They Came From Hollywood

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Name: They Came From Hollywood
Developer: Octopus Motor
Systems: PC
Due date: 2002-2007

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.

Playable monsters
Newtrino the Atomic Newt Fire-breath
The Tin Behemoth Fires lasers and missiles
Giant Ant Fires acid stream
Giant Plant Fires toxic pollen clouds
The 52-Foot Woman Emits a superdonoc shriek
Walking Eyeball Fires a heat ray and can hypotise
Giant Spider Fires sticky web string
Thorax the Giant Mantis No special ability
Martian Mothership Fires a death ray, can unleash kamikaze drones
The Gob from Uranus Leaves behind a toxic slime trail
Giant Cuttlefish Fires a radioactice ink cloud
Giant Pea Can assume control of a baby pea once killed.

Hidden in the game are special holiday-themed monsters:

Holiday monsters
Christmas Santa Claus
Halloween Harry, a skeleton warrior tribute to Ray Harryhausen

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

Cities
San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge, Painted Ladies
New York City Empire State Building, The Brooklyn Bridge
Washington, D.C The Capitol Building, The Smithsonian, The White House
Los Angeles The Hollywood sign, The Griffith Observatory, Movie studios
Seattle Space Needle, Music Museum
Chicago The Miracle Mile, The Loop
Nevada Nuclear power plant, Army base

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

Time era
Roaring 20s Biplanes, zeppelins, machine guns
Axis & Allies Tanks, prop planes, napalm
The Atomic Age Jets, SWAT teams, incendiary charges
Modern Times Modern tanks and jets, cruise missiles, EMP bombs

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:

Expansion packs
Son of They Came From Hollywood Cities in Europe and Asia
Revenge Of They Came From Hollywood Cities on other planets
Back To They Came From Hollywood Cities set back in time

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

Gallery

External Links