Red vs Blue Meets The Sims

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Posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday September 30, 2004 @12:28PM from the molto-machinima dept.

blackbearnh writes "The folks over at Rooster Teeth Productions, best known for their Red vs Blue comedy movies based on the Halo rendering engine, are branching out with a second series, with more of a sitcom flair, called The Strangerhood. This time, they're using the Electronic Arts Sims 2 game as their rendering engine."

67 of 103 comments (clear)

Very Cool by cbrocious · 2004-09-30 12:30 · Score: 4, Interesting

I find this interesting, but do they just take videos of the existing content where they simply do weird things, or do they add additional content to the games? I assume the latter due to the post saying "rendering engine".

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1. Re:Very Cool by adelord · 2004-09-30 12:41 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  do they just take videos of the existing content where they simply do weird things, or do they add additional content to the games?
  from their faq www.redvsblue.com/faq_email.shtml:
  Q: How do you make the videos? A: This is by far the number one question asked in e-mail. We use a video capture suite by a fantastic company, Canopus. The card we use is a Canopus DV Rex M1. We also use a variety of software, including Adobe Premiere and a great (and cheap!)sound editing tool called Cool Edit 2000. As far as specific questions about certain shots, we reserve all behind-the-scenes info for our sponsors forum which offers a unique look at the magic behind RvB. We don't publish that kind of info on the public site, because we feel it detracts from the enjoyment of the story. We don't want viewers wondering how we got two different colored Marines in the Warthog -- we just want them to enjoy the movie.,
  since they use shots you totally can't get from playing the game, maybe the Halo developer gave them a copy of the engine or source, or they opened it themselves. my guess is the former. BTW, the more you watch it the more humor you get out of it. i can't explain why
  
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2. Re:Very Cool by illuin · 2004-09-30 12:54 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Actually, they use a stock version of the game. All the "camera work" and "acting" are just players running around in the multiplayer mode of the game, doing what they're normally allowed to do. Their DVD details some of the crazy stunts they had to pull to get some of their shots, which really is quite fascinating.
3. Re:Very Cool by DrAegoon · 2004-09-30 12:59 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  since they use shots you totally can't get from playing the game
  If you're talking about the different colored marines in a warthog, I'm pretty sure that was just clever editing. This is Microsoft we're talking about. I seriously doubt they let them have any part of the Halo engine or source. You can pull off some pretty slick tricks with creative editing too; movie makers have been doing it for almost a century now. Having digital media just makes it easier.
4. Re:Very Cool by Nivoset · 2004-09-30 13:10 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  they just split screened it for when he jumped in, and didn't worry about the other shots, as maroon is hard to tell from red in distance. the most impressive is actually the panning shot in the first scene
  
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5. Re:Very Cool by Kris_J · 2004-09-30 15:22 · Score: 1
  
  Your comment tipped the balance, I just ordered the DVDs. Thanks.
6. Re:Very Cool by kcb93x · 2004-09-30 16:12 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  I bought the DVDs - both Season 1 and Season 2. Very entertaining, plus the commentary explains this. What they did in those cases was actually use the standard multiplayer (non-Capture the Flag, which is the only place where the team colors are fixed) for those scenes. Hence, the flag scenes will only contain those whose body armor is Red (or maroon) or Blue.
  
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7. Re:Very Cool by fenix+down · 2004-09-30 17:18 · Score: 1
  
  I'm wondering how talking's gonna work though. I haven't played 2 yet, but I doubt you can make the guys lipsynch to your voices in the stock game. Halo has helmets, are they just going to try and make it look close with this?
45...43... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-30 12:31 · Score: 5, Funny

...40KB/s.. c'mon guys, I'm still getting data.... 33KB/s.. yeah, that's more like it, let's slashdot this sucker...29KB/s...
1. Re:45...43... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-30 12:42 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  T minus five
  T minus four
  T minus three
  T minus two
  T minus one
  
  And... its dead!!
  
  WOO!
  
  We have slashdot. I repeat we have slashdot!
2. Re:45...43... by Lord+Prox · 2004-09-30 12:54 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Now showing on an Emule client near you...
  SH_Episode00.wmv
3. Re:45...43... by moonbender · 2004-09-30 12:56 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Coral cache (or whatever the correct term is) of the QuickTime version. Works fine for me.
  
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4. Re:45...43... by Lord+Prox · 2004-09-30 13:03 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  and again for the QT ver. Why can't they use something more "normal" like MPEG1 or Xvid. Lawyers probably...
  SH_Episode00.mov
5. Re:45...43... by sn0wflake · 2004-09-30 13:13 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I couldn't get your links to work but searching for them provided these results:
  
  ed2k://|file|SH_Episode00.mov|7993122|FC24D4B15F9A 8B795DFB07AA985E4CDB|/
  ed2k://|file|SH_Episode00.wmv|4337520|40EB0C31DA59 6F772B02AA0564C279F8|/
6. Re:45...43... by Lord+Prox · 2004-09-30 13:22 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks for the feedback. I remember that in the future.
  Post both the ed2k link and the filename...
7. Re:45...43... by Lord_Dweomer · 2004-09-30 17:29 · Score: 1
  
  Xvid more normal than QuickTime? I'm sorry, what planet are you from? Got news for you chief. Even though this is Slashdot, QT is INFINITELY more popular than Xvid.
  
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8. Re:45...43... by Dizzle · 2004-09-30 18:53 · Score: 1
  
  Which I guess is why all the new torrents are encoded in Xvid, right? Xvid would suit this purpose far greater than quicktime as xvid is nice and light and plays in any video player. Quicktime (which i know is a file container, so don't start) has the ugliest player ever.
  
  Advantage: Xvid.
  
  --
  -Dizzle
  "I most likely AM so interested in myself."
9. Re:45...43... by Ziviyr · 2004-09-30 18:54 · Score: 1
  
  I want to really see how many people QT is "popular" with. Its popular with Apple and... ...?
  
  Last I saw, the Windows player sucked on technical levels, AND it was naggy to boot.
  
  I liked it more than "realmedia", but thats far from praise.
  
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10. Re:45...43... by tod_miller · 2004-09-30 19:14 · Score: 1
  
  He said normal not popular.
  
  He didn't say widespread either. He said normal.
  
  Xvid is way more normal that QuickTime(TM) and I could show you some gaussian curves that will show you what normal is.
  
  QT is more widespread than Xvid, but some viral video type like this would channel lots of traffic Xvids way, and in the world of Xwindows, Xbox, windowsXp, and XXX, Xvid is happly at home.
  
  I wonder what gets more P2P searches - divX or Xvid?
  
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11. Re:45...43... by oddfox · 2004-09-30 22:26 · Score: 1
  
  Get Quicktime Alternative then? Works great for me. There isn't anything wrong with .mov AFAIK, and the download/installation of that package I linked to is quite quick and painless (Cable modem user speaking here, 7.5MB for latest ver), I really recommend Media Player Classic even if you don't want to get the Quicktime Alternative (It's bundled with the Alternative).
  
  And I have to agree that the Quicktime player is one I avoid almost as much as the Real player. Eww to both of them. I do agree though that Xvid would be nice, just because choice == good. :)
  
  --
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12. Re:45...43... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-01 04:06 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  What he means is that normal people, who don't pirate movies and tv shows, are more likely to have Quicktime installed than an xvid coded. And if they don't, it's a lot of easier for them to install quicktime then an xvid codec. (Remember, we're talking about people who don't understand that a codec is required to decode a video. All they know is that media player is opening the file, and it doesn't work.)
Interesting by Kehvarl · 2004-09-30 12:33 · Score: 3, Insightful

The intro was interesting, butI don't know that I'll subject myself to many (or any) future releases. Perhaps I just don't get enough of a kick out of things like this?
1. Re:Interesting by nate+nice · 2004-09-30 13:11 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Yeah, I agree. Red VS Blue is OK at first but I sort of forgot about it and never bothered to grab new episodes. I'm not going to say it sucks or anything as I'm not doing anything better (nor aspire to in that medium), but I don't watch TV because it's generally boring to watch things and I cannot see myself watching what amounts to TV, but over the Net.
  Ah well, I'm sure a lot of people like it so more power to them.
  
  --
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Knowing what they did with RvB by Ironsides · 2004-09-30 12:34 · Score: 3, Insightful

Oh dear god, this is going to be funny. Can't wait to see how they take this.

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1. Re:Knowing what they did with RvB by kayak334 · 2004-09-30 12:37 · Score: 1
  
  My thoughts exactly. Red vs. Blue made me literally cry laughing a few times. For those that haven't seen it, I highly suggest checking it out. It helps if you've played Halo, but it's not required.
I'll check it out by RightInTheNeck · 2004-09-30 12:38 · Score: 5, Interesting

When someone pointed out Red VS Blue to me, I rolled my eyes and thought yeah here we go some more people on the internet who think they are really funny and think everyone should know it. Red VS Blue turned out to be pretty damn funny actually I enjoyed it. I'd be willing to check something from them out.
Video link Slashdotted... by mOoZik · 2004-09-30 12:43 · Score: 1, Informative

There it goes...

Does anyone have a mirror?

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1. Re:Video link Slashdotted... by skyman8081 · 2004-09-30 12:56 · Score: 1
  
  Not really, RT has been /.ed before, and they have a really good way of making sure transfer rates stay up.
  Just keep trying, they limit the max connections, so that there are a few people downloading a file at a good rate, rather than a ton of people downloading a file at an very slow rate.
  
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2. Re:Video link Slashdotted... by MikeDX · 2004-09-30 20:09 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I searched google and found a few mirrors
Links Dead by Mooga · 2004-09-30 12:44 · Score: 1

Any one else not able to DL the intro? I'm a bir RvB fan... can't wait!

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~ Mooga
Re:In Other News by DAldredge · 2004-09-30 12:44 · Score: 4, Funny

/. has editors? When did they get hired?
Sponsors vs Freeloaders by skyman8081 · 2004-09-30 12:47 · Score: 5, Informative

In all the hilarity, a group of sponsors, decided to make a video explaining why people should sponsor red vs blue. And it is open to all sponsors of Red vs Blue.

anyway, they are now famous in the red vs blue forums, and burnie, the head guy of RvB, loves it.

Sponsors vs Freeloaders: Sponsor or Die

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funny by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-30 12:53 · Score: 4, Interesting

I think there's some kind of anti-slashdot mechanism at work on that page. I right clicked ->save as, and nothing happened. closed the page, and suddenly the dialog popped up in firefox, and now I'm saving at 60k/s.
1. Re:funny by GigsVT · 2004-10-01 00:21 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, it's called Firefox's incredibly buggy download manager.
  
  Ever try to download more than 3 or 4 files at once? It'll be 10 or 20 minutes before the dialog boxes pop up for the later files.
  
  If I have to download more than one or two files, I just use wget, because firefox is totally fucked.
  
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mirror of WMV by haluness · 2004-09-30 12:55 · Score: 4, Informative

http://blue.chem.psu.edu/~rajarshi/SH_Episode00.wm v

Enjoy
1. Re:mirror of WMV by haluness · 2004-09-30 12:57 · Score: 1
  
  mirror link :-/
  
  Now, enjoy
2. Re:mirror of WMV by babybird · 2004-09-30 13:08 · Score: 1
  
  404 Not Found o_O
  
  --
  Keith D.
"Rooster Teeth" by the_skywise · 2004-09-30 12:55 · Score: 2, Funny

That's brilliant... Thumbs-up guys...

"Hey we're going legit now...our old company name is offensive... should we change it?"
"Not really..."
1. Re:"Rooster Teeth" by C0rinthian · 2004-09-30 13:14 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Cock Bite.
2. Re:"Rooster Teeth" by DoktorGonzo · 2004-09-30 18:01 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  If I knew that the way to get modded up (as "Informative," no less) is to post only the words "Cock Bite," I would have started long, long ago.
Re:Torrent? by mskfisher · 2004-09-30 12:57 · Score: 4, Informative

Yep - http://www.mskf.org/SH_Episode00.wmv.torrent

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Re:Torrent? by irc.goatse.cx+troll · 2004-09-30 13:09 · Score: 1

If you look around, You can find Red VS Blue playing on a ton of shoutcast NSV streams. Its a shame bandwidth costs make streaming video so hard to do freely, as chances are you'll have to wait in line to join a stream, but they're worth it.

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Re:45...43......3...2... by ppz003 · 2004-09-30 13:15 · Score: 3, Funny

1.5 KB/s...Damn! Oh wait, I'm on crappy dial-up :-( Nevermind.
Inaccurate link by Have+Blue · 2004-09-30 13:19 · Score: 3, Informative

Red vs Blue is made with Halo on the Xbox, not the PC. It also uses some relatively extensive post-production effects.
1. Re:Inaccurate link by Derang() · 2004-09-30 13:38 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Season 1, aside from church being a ghost, didn't have a lot of post-production effects. Season 2 had more, but I wouldn't call them extensive.
  
  Also, some of the scenes from RvB season 2 were done on the PC version of halo, usually the ones where lots of up close texture detail of the master chief guys are important to the scene.
2. Re:Inaccurate link by Have+Blue · 2004-09-30 15:50 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Church was only a single effect, but he was onscreen a LOT. There have also been color filters, distortions, the split-screen trick mentioned elsewhere, and more. I haven't watched the season 2 DVD with commentary yet, so I'm not sure about Halo PC.
3. Re:Inaccurate link by OverlordQ · 2004-10-01 02:58 · Score: 1
  
  Actually they switched to the PC ver a while back.
  
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4. Re:Inaccurate link by RadioTV · 2004-10-01 04:17 · Score: 1
  
  No, they didn't. They cover this in several places including their forums and the DVD commentary. They make limited use of Halo PC for shots the can't get on the console, but to use it full time would require that they have a PC for every character + 1 for the camera man. With the consoles they need one for every 4 characters + 1 for the camera man.
  
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only a boring intro by javcrapa · 2004-09-30 13:23 · Score: 2, Insightful

But whats the big fuss about this, the download is just an intro, with nothing worth the download... lets wait for episode 1..

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1. Re:only a boring intro by Xaoswolf · 2004-09-30 13:47 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I said the same thing about starwars...
  Boy was I dissapointed...
  
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2. Re:only a boring intro by emazing · 2004-09-30 13:48 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Because this is news, and not a movie review site. If you watched Red and Blue, you know that the creators making another series of movies is big enough of a deal.
3. Re:only a boring intro by Ziviyr · 2004-09-30 18:47 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I'll be one person to agree with you, all that lead-in and no goods. Slashdot could have waited until there was something worthwhile to slashdot the site over.
  
  Its not like this is a cool new embrionic tech like flourescent multilayer discs, that just must be mentioned immediately. Its a boorish intro leading straight to "the end", and nothing else available...
  
  And no sympathetic statements at the end, like. "I want the last two minutes of my life back".
  
  --
  
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Torrent link by mskfisher · 2004-09-30 13:25 · Score: 5, Informative

I keep forgetting to reply to the story instead of the ACs, so my links usually get buried at the bottom of the page.

Here's a .torrent link for the .WMV file - I've got like 84 seeds as of 8:26PM CDT.

http://www.mskf.org/SH_Episode00.wmv.torrent

Have fun...

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0x0D 0x0A
1. Re:Torrent link by mskfisher · 2004-09-30 13:46 · Score: 1
  
  174 seeds as of 8:47. woot!
  
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  0x0D 0x0A
Rocket Launcher by kai.chan · 2004-09-30 13:42 · Score: 4, Funny

I can't wait for the episode where the Doom 3 Marine takes a rocket launcher (with unlimited ammo) and going postal in the Strangerhood.
'Bout time by mblase · 2004-09-30 14:23 · Score: 4, Insightful

A while ago, I was remarking how there was no software to easily build 3D "RvB"-style animations on personal computers, the way Apple's iMovie or GarageBand software lets you build your own movies and music. Then I saw the box for "The Sims 2" and noticed the bit where you could script your Sims and record their actions as a standalone movie.

I knew the moment I saw that, that it was only a matter of time before people started posting their own "Simcoms" online. It never occurred to me that the RvB folks would be the first ones out of the gate. Bravo, fellas.
Fantastic by Lord_Dweomer · 2004-09-30 17:37 · Score: 3, Insightful

I think what we're witnessing now is the birth of the do-it-yourself cinema for the average Joe.
All it would really take would be Maxis to team up with some experience machinima teams to guide them and they could create the ultimate home computer tv studio suite.
I realize there's a game coming out called Hollywood or something like that, but I have no idea how open ended it is. Maxis has built an EXTREMELY powerful tool with the Sims, and it really is a shame that they're still selling it as just a game. They could easily take parts of it, add some new things, and reposition it as an entirely new product, even a serious, nongame product.
Anybody know of any open source engines that are similar to the Sims?

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1. Re:Fantastic by Lord_Dweomer · 2004-10-01 12:11 · Score: 1
  
  While you are most certainly a trolling AC, I feel you have a point worth responding to.
  As we have created more "internet pollution", we have slowly, but surely, generated methods of sorting through it to find what we want. Hence the evolution of search engines up until Google today, and god knows what tomorrow.
  Not only would there be mainstream ways of sorting through this, you can rest assured that since geeks would be pioneering this before average Joe ever did, and that when there was sufficient clutter, geeks would be the first to create an 1337 method of sorting through it that your elitist ass would use.
  And I do find it funny how you point out that /. is for the average nerd, with nothing interesting, and you, being an "above average" nerd are still here trolling.
  
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Re:Where are the Lawers by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-30 18:37 · Score: 1, Informative

Microsoft is in full support of the RvB crew, you apparently don't keep in tune with everything about RvB. Hell, MS let them play Halo 2 for 14 hours straigh recently. Nothing pleases a game maker more than exposure and FREE ADVERTISING.

And the whole Strangerhood thing started with a call from EA, according to Burnie in the GameSpot interview.
Comment removed by account_deleted · 2004-09-30 18:44 · Score: 1

Comment removed based on user account deletion
Why oh Why can they never use a standard format? by baadfood · 2004-09-30 18:56 · Score: 1

Whats wrong with xvid then? And, what fuckign audio codec ARE they using? My Media Player tries to find it, fails, and plays with no sound.
Re:Where are the Lawers by blowdart · 2004-09-30 23:37 · Score: 1

There was also the RvB TechEd video last year, with one of the soldiers talking about getting time off from the war to go.
Red vs Blue in the Sims2 by SeanTobin · 2004-10-01 02:43 · Score: 1

There is a painting you can buy in the Sims2 whose description is something along the lines of "shows the conflict of Red vs Blue".. Not a bad painting, but not as usefull as the pink flamingo's from the original.

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Award-winning stuff by lukestuts · 2004-10-01 02:49 · Score: 1

And this year's nominees for the Virgin of the Year prize are...
Red Blue? by Archangel+Michael · 2004-10-01 03:09 · Score: 1

I actually prefer Red Green.

Keep your stick on the ice.

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1. Re:Red Blue? by Hassman · 2004-10-01 03:58 · Score: 1
  
  Funny show.
  
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  Dovie'andi se tovya sagain.
Oh man... my social life is officially dead by merlin_jim · 2004-10-01 07:00 · Score: 1

It started with the Sims, I would spend hours watching them go through their lives.

The a friend would come over. I would now spend hours watching them watch their sims go through their lives.

Now I'm putting yet another layer of abstraction between myself and any semblence of a real social life. I watched the entry movie three times before I realized what I was doing.

I'm now doomed to eagerly wait to watch someone I don't even know playing the Sims.

Must... Interact... With... Real... People...

Ah screw it. strangerhood.com here I come.

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