machinima podcast

S3 E93 Twin Peaks (Sept 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes September 6, 2023 Leave a reply

An homage and ‘unofficial tribute’ to the classic 90s TV series, this week’s review discusses a film of a game demo created by Blue Rose Team for the PS1. The demo covers the intro and events surrounding Special Agent Cooper’s arrival at Twin Peaks and his encounter with Laura Palmer and the Black Lodge. Steeped in the mythos of the virtual world that has been created, well, at least that applies to some of the CM crew more than other/s, we discuss how well it translates to contemporary times, the story portrayed and the issues that arise from this type of transformative work.



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

Preliminary discussion, Convergence Mod here

Sony’s update on its Ghostbuster’s Unreal test –

Twin Peaks film, released 8 August 2023 –

Download demo from here

Original Twin Peaks intro here –

S3 E92 Unreal Engine: Horror (August 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes August 30, 2023 Leave a reply

A truly terrifying short for some, Horror is more like an absurd dream for others. The film is made by Yang Hyunjun, released 4 June 2023. Its creator showcases some incredible scene detail, especially at the beginning of the film, but thereafter, loses a little of the pathos and credibility in the storytelling.



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes & Links

Film, by Yang Hyunjun, released 4 June 2023

S3 E91 No Man’s Sky: Origins (August 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes August 23, 2023 Leave a reply

This week’s review is of a No Man’s Sky machinima called Origins, produced by Evil Dr.Porkchop. Its a beautiful cinematic travelogue showcasing the vast expansiveness that is No Man’s Sky – a game in which you will almost never have the same experience twice. Of course, Ricky wanted more drama and story but Phil nails it, reflecting on what might be possible if you could use No Man Sky’s environments with Eve Online’s space battles and Star Citizen’s avatars! Yeah… but that’s not this film!



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes & Links

Film, Origins by Evil Dr.Porkchop, released 30 November 2020 –

Music soundtrack by Confidential MX and full credits here

S3 E90 Unreal Engine: The Crown | Hunt (August 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes August 16, 2023 Leave a reply

This week we feature two films by Chinese artist collective studio, Motzify Mohua. These two shorts, The Crown and Hunt, are made in Unreal Engine and show extraordinary qualities in very different ways: The Crown is a fairytale made originally for World Children’s Day and illustrates traditional cultural references with gorgeous imagery; Hunt is a cyberpunk anti-hero teaser. Our main ‘complaint’ is that we need more detail from the artists!



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

Films, The Crown, released on 1 June 2023

Hunt, released on 5 May 2023

Political references also in our film review E81 Still Here, also made in Unreal Engine

Don’t forget to check out Phil’s Machiniplex Remastered curated machinima site.  One we mention in this episode that was particularly inspirational in the context of this week’s film reviews is Snow Witch (Britannica Dreams, released 2006), film link –

S3 E89 Half Life 2: Daydream (August 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes August 9, 2023 Leave a reply

A performance by a camera ham, shutterbug or just a plain histrionic narcissist? This week’s review discusses an older machinima that has highly contemporary themes in it: carry-on-regardless, daydreaming, whatever, so long as the virtual camera is rolling. The film is called Daydream (2009) set to the titular song by Lovin’ Spoonful, created by Mystfit and made Valve’s Half Life 2. Needless to say, we loved the humor but what makes this machinima interesting is that it was a scripted production created by running a path sequencer inside the game, harking back to the early days of how machinimas were made but so is reminiscent of how contemporary tools such as iClone and Unreal now work.

This week we also begin with Ricky talking about ultra-wide monitors, using it to play Elden Ring (a mod required) and the #SAGAFTRA strike; and, Phil gives an overview of his remastering project of the Machiniplex collection and his homage to the great Hugh Hancock, founder the #machinima movement, the upcoming showcase of Bloodspell and also his own response to some of the hoopla that Hugh created at the time of its release in 2006!



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

Film, Daydream by Mystfit, released 6 January 2009

Gigabyte ultra-wide screen and Elden Ring mod, by Nexus Mods

Machiniplex Collection, remastered by Phil Rice – https://bitly/Machiniplex

Bloodspell trailer for Phil’s showcase channel –