Monthly Archives: October 2023

S4 E100 SPECIAL: Machinima Reflections

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes October 25, 2023 Leave a reply

Celebrating our 100th episode on the CM podcast/YouTube show, we reflect on how far machinima has come and some of the recent trends we’ve observed in our film reviews.



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

We list here a selection of the film review episodes we mention in our discussion during this episode.

Neo Stormwind by Duren Productions –

The MODDED Wacky West by BedBananas –

The Ghost by JP Ferre –

After War by RG Studios –

Patient Zero by The Parry God –

Secret Moon by Orencloud –

Interloper by Anomidae –

917 by Krad Productions –

S4 E99 Elite Dangerous Odyssey: The Personal Odyssey 1 (Oct 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes October 18, 2023 Leave a reply

This week our film selection is an Elite Dangerous Odyssey ‘Captain’s Log’ style machinima, heavily influenced by Douglas Adams and John Carpenter with shades of Gerry Anderson. The film is The Personal Odyssey 1 by Cmdr Fortytwo. We discuss the use of AI generated voices in this (its a 2021 film) and in particular how well its use can convey emotion – our debate is a deliberation on the choice to create a monotonic dialogue. Damien’s overview of the Thargoids is a fascinating insight into the hidden game lore of Elite Dangerous.



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

The Personal Odyssey 1 | Cinematic Exploration | Elite Dangerous Odyssey by Cmdr. Fortytwo, released 24 October 2021

Gerry Anderson’s Space:1999 opening –

S4 E98 World of Warcraft/Cyberpunk 2077: Neo Stormwind

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes October 11, 2023 Leave a reply

WOW! Our collective adjective for this World of Warcraft / Cyberpunk 2077 mashup. This is a stunningly edited urban observational film, set in a strange new world the like of which we have never seen before – a cacophany in a good way. Shades of Blade Runner, Robocop and Mad Max run through the film, with a soundscape and accompanying music that are a perfect fit. We also loved that  @DurenMachinima  has cited his inspiration, mentioning the late, great  @Phixor2000  among others.



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

Neo Stormwind (WoW Machinima) by Duren, released 4 Aug 2023 –

Olibith series called Never Stay Tuned, an hilarious commentary on popular culture within the World of Warcraft –

IK edit, Secrets of Ulduar, which is a cinematic of Wow that has been remastered –

S4 E97 Elden Ring: Monty Python (Oct 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes October 4, 2023 Leave a reply

Kicking off Season 4 of the podcast, we review a Monty Python inspired film, integrating one of their greatest films with Elden Ring – Holy Grail.  The film has been made by The Escapist in collaboration with eli_handle_b.wav and is a brilliantly edited and composited mashup.  It is also a very appropriate pick for this episode since Monty Python were the inspiration for this podcast in the first place, so we reflect in the show that we’ve now been working on this podcast longer than the original Star Trek series ran + another 20 years collaborating on top of that too!

We also discuss news items: the launch of Starfield; Nexus Mods; Unity’s faux pas with the community of creators; Ricky’s attempt to install an AMD 7800T graphics card; and, the Sims Machinima & Animation Convention.



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes and Links

Monty Python & the Elden Ring | Multiverse by The Escapist, released 8 August 2023

The Escapist is a website by gamers, for gamers, about gamers, releasing new videos every day at its website: http://www.escapistmagazine.com

A ‘how to’ using AI with largely free tools including Adobe Express to remove the background of images and put anything generated by AI back into the image, by Guy Parsons – https://twitter.com/GuyP/status/1704886297649631324

Starfield promotion –

Unity blog posts –

Original news post

Retraction post

Interview by Jason Weimann with Marc Whitten, Unity’s general manager –

Sims Machinima & Animation Convention 2023 website here and event recordings here –