Month: October 2014

No, the title is not a reference to towels, Vogons or the Question to the Ultimate Answer of Life, The Universe and Everything.

Rather, Don’t Panic is the name of the 2014 Halloween offering from Pulse Games, which is billed as a “completely interactive fear experience with multiple levels, challenging puzzles and fantastic prizes”.

I’m not sure about the “fear” aspect, but there is no denying that Don’t Panic is an involved and entertaining multi-level interactive experience. In it, you take on the role of a television ghost hunter / mystery solver competing in a challenge being run by The Panic Channel, “the hottest cable network for the paranormal”, to explore Carver Mansion. This is a fabled, if now run-down, family home, once the scene of tragic events and formerly a mysterious monastery where Weird Things are rumoured to have happened.

The challenge sees you and your producer, Lily (an NPC who remains in the production van, passing information to you as you explore the house), up against the famous Jack Hunter and the Spectre Collectors in exploring. Jack and his team have actually stolen a march on you; they’ve been on-site for a while; but while you arrive to find all their equipment set-up and ready to go, the team have disappeared. Are they the latest victims in the mansion’s dark history?

There’s only one way to find out – by investigating for yourself, and trying to riddle what really befell the Carver family, and what has happened to Hunter and his crew…

From the starting-point, you’ll need to collect your game pack and wear the HUD (PKE meter) and the tactical headset. There are other items in the pack, but they’re not essential to playing the game.

The HUD provides essential information and also tracks your progress, allowing you to break-off from playing, should you need to, and then resume at a later time. The headset provides a projected light which you will need if you’re running the viewer using the region windlight. The pack also provides gameplay instructions – which should be read and followed. Do make sure you heed the notes on minimising lag and divesting yourself of unnecessary facelights. It’s also a good idea to have sound on as well, although essential information is also delivered through chat.

Once in the house, it’s a case of explore, touch and follow the hints (which take various forms). When I say “explore” and “touch”, I mean exactly that; don’t take anything for granted, and take your time. There are things to be found and collected (recorded by your HUD) which are vital to your progress, some of which are obvious, some perhaps not so.And don’t forget the prizes that are scattered around, waiting to be claimed.

There is also, it has to be said, a wonderful element of wry humour throughout the mansion; it pays to be observant in order to find it.

As the challenge is spread across two regions there is some teleporting to be done – although not so much as you feel you’re being bounced around from pillar to post. Some teleports require the solving of puzzles  as does getting through certain doors. Working my way through these had me thinking about how Experience Keys might further add to activities like this – not that Don’t Panic misses anything; the few times the map pop open to facilitate a teleport doesn’t actually interfere with the fun of things.

It’s fair to say that a huge amount of creative thought has gone into Don’t Panic, and a couple of the riddles in particular really do engage the grey matter. This all makes it a thoroughly entertaining activity which – despite the description – doesn’t rely on shock horror elements to achieve its goal.

What I particularly enjoyed about it, aside from solving the puzzles, is that there isn’t necessarily a single route to the solution. For those who do like solving puzzles, it is possible to circumvent collecting all the clues and slip directly to the denouement. Nor does this spoil things – it simply gives an excuse to go back and explore those bits missed in jumping to the end. Similarly, for those who may have missed a clue, it means frustration can be avoided in retracing steps and trying to find whatever was missed.

All told, an engaging, fun challenge which exercises the brain nicely without ever belabouring things. Recommended.

Related Links

• Don’t Panic SLurl (Rated: Moderate)

We’re in the run-up to Halloween, and as expected, the Destination Guide is getting lots of entries suited to the time of year – including the Lab’s own Haunted Halloween Tour, which I recently tried. Some of the offerings for this Halloween are new, and some are back for a further round of fun / mayhem.

Two of the latter are Return of the Nightmare Walkthrough, developed by the folk at Skyrah Fantasy Roleplay, and Return to Havenhollow, put together by the Holiday Appreciation Association (HAA) team.

Return of the Nightmare Walkthrough

As the name suggests, this is intended to be a walk through the stuff of nightmares, although there is also a hunt involved as well – find the ten pumpkins, and you go and claim your prize at the end.

Things get off to a dark enough start: you arrive in pitch black, a gaping hole in front of you with the words “Down You Go…” floating over it. I’m not sure if it’s an instruction, a suggestion or an order; not that it matters, as it’s the only way to go…

The fall delivers you to the start of your actual journey. Here you’ll find instructions and notes on the hunt, and the opportunity to grab a pumpkin lantern (which you should). The instructions suggest trying things in Mouselook. This can be tricky / frustrating at times, but if you’re comfortable navigating in Mouselook, I really recommend that you follow the suggestion; it makes for a much more involved journey. Also make sure you accept the region windlight (or set your viewer’s time to midnight), and that you have sounds enabled. Then, when you’re set, follow the bloody arrow.

What follows is a tortuous route through various locations  – all reached on foot, each of which has its own look and feel, and perhaps a surprise or two. The themes of the locations are perhaps to be expected, given this is a nightmare: the bloody cold store, circus tents with the kind of clowns you most assuredly do not want to have as entertainment at your young one’s birthday party, slimy sewers, ghostly woodlands, and so on, but they all work rather well, especially when in Mouselook. Along the way, you’ll find the pumpkins for the hunt (if you decide to collect them) dotted around, some obvious, some perhaps not so obvious (you might want to look behind you in places, despite the warnings not to!).

At the end of the walk is a maze. This is where you really should be in Mouselook. The limited amount of light from your lantern not only makes this a genuine challenge, it can give rise to a feeling of being trapped, adding to the desire to find the way out. The latter does take time, so try not to give into frustration and then hopping out of Mouselook (if you’re using it). Once you have found your way to the doors and freedom, you can either teleport off to the Dark Giza Fantasy mall (or wherever you like), or you can deposit your collected pumpkins, claim your prize and then teleport off.

The first-person / Mouselook element of the Walkthrough can make it fun. There’s less gore evident than the Haunted House Tour, which some might prefer, and the ability to wander for yourself makes it perhaps a tad more immersive. While it is not designed with the Rift in mind, given the intended way people are to try to find their way around the place, it might actually offer itself to those who have a Rift.

I’d perhaps liked to have seen a few more surprises while trying to find my way through the maze. It can get a bit dry after a while, especially when in Mouselook, where there is always the temptation to simply tap the ESC key.  That said, however, the Walkthrough is nicely immersive, and seems to be going down well with the people taking part.

Continue reading “Return of the spooky walkies” →