In this episode of Now for Something Completely Machinima, the team revisits Ozymandias (1999) — one of the earliest and most controversial works of machinima, created by Hugh Hancock and Strange Company using the experimental LithTech Film Producer toolkit.

What begins as a straightforward critique quickly turns into a deeper debate:

👉 Is Ozymandias a “bad film”… or a groundbreaking prototype that helped shape virtual filmmaking?

Ricky challenges the film’s pacing, visuals, and sound, arguing that by today’s standards it feels unfinished and awkward. But Tracy and Phil place the work in its historical context — revealing it as a crucial pivot point where machinima shifted from gameplay recording to intentional, cinematic storytelling inside game engines.

The panel explores:

• How Ozymandias tested the first true machinima production tools
• Why moving sand and free-camera shots were revolutionary at the time
• How this experiment foreshadowed today’s virtual production (Unreal, Source Filmmaker, The Mandalorian, etc.)
• Why the film mattered more as a technical and artistic manifesto than as a polished short film
• Hugh Hancock’s legacy, ambition, and influence on the machinima movement

Along the way, the hosts reminisce about the wild early days of machinima — executable films, hacked tools, screen-recording cameras, and the struggle to share video before YouTube even existed.

Whether you’re a machinima veteran or a newcomer, this episode is a fascinating look at how a rough, experimental short helped open the door to modern virtual filmmaking.

🎬 Watch, debate, and decide for yourself: brilliant milestone… or broken relic?

Audio Only Version of this Episode

YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

Ozymandias by Hugh Hancock and Gordon McDonald, Strange Company, released 1999 – available on Vimeo here

Outside the Blocks

Arch Obeler Lights Out

Skyrim Mods

Skyrim Machinima –

Here’s an interesting new world builder with AI