Tag: MadPea Games

MadPea recently launched their latest interactive, grid-wide game in Second Life. I actually had the opportunity to preview it ahead of the launch, but things in the physical world were a little higgledy-piggledy, and I had to bail-out after just 15 or so minutes – once again, apologies to Kess and Kiana. So here, somewhat belatedly, is a look at the game and a peek at one of the prizes.

The Collection, which runs through until September 30th, 2015, continues MadPea’s tradition of interactive point-and-click adventures (note this isn’t a hunt in the usual sense), and, as ever, there are some fabulous prizes on offer for those who follow the clues and uncover the mystery.

To describe the game, I’ll simply borrow from MadPea’s own press on The Collection:

Just as you were about to start your well deserved summer vacation, you receive a Notification of Death letter. Your distant grandfather has sadly passed away and he made YOU as his sole heir. As you arrive to the town of Parkchester to collect your inheritance, you realise that your grandfather was a man of many secrets.

All of grandfather’s belongings will be yours, he only has one wish:  you need to finish his Collection.

Suddenly you find yourself in the middle of an unsolved old Victorian mystery. Following the footsteps of a Polish maid you embark on a journey, completing grandfather’s Collection, that piece by piece brings you closer to finding out the horrific truth.

As is usual for MadPea, the game is HUD-based, and there are comprehensive instructions on how to play available on the MadPea blog, complete with rules and other notes – so please be sure to read-up there before joining the game.

Like UNIA, MadPea’s richly immersive game (see my review here), those joining The Collection have the choice of purchasing one of three passes to enter the game. All three – Bronze (L$100), Silver (L$300) and gold (L$800) offer the same standard HUD and game play, but the Silver pass offers 12 additional prizes not available to Bronze pass members, while the Gold pass offers a special game play outfit, an alternative ending to the story, the Silver prizes and 14 phenomenal Gold prizes, including the MadPea Bandit designed by Analyse Dean (shown under full sail below). You can also see more prizes listed on the MadPea blog.

The Collection is Experience Key driven, so once you have purchased and attached a HUD, it is essential you grant it the permissions it requests to offer you a seamless game-play, and in order for you to actually participate in the game. Removing the HUD will store your progress and revoke all permissions granted.

Unfortunately, some locations you’ll visit as a part of your adventure have not allowed the Experience to run on their lands. In these instances, you’ll be asked to allow attachments via the usual dialogue box(es) – do make sure you accept.

While things start off innocently enough – a visit to your late Grandfather’s flat – the adventure starts to take a turn once you’ve reached his pawn shop. It is here that you find out more about the mysterious collection, which has a decidedly musical flavour, and also experience the first indications that everything isn’t quite as it might seem.

I’m not about to discuss where you go from here, partly because it would spoil the fun, but mostly because I, um, haven’t actually had time to play The Collection myself! However, it is important to remember that this is a point-and-click adventure. Clues will direct you to places, but it’s up to you to investigate, locate, and use / collect whatever you’re being directed towards. Also keep an eye on local chat – there may well be clues appearing there from time-to-time.

Be aware that The Collection is in keeping with many of MadPea’s games, and features activities and situations which some may find disturbing; so again, do please read the information on MadPea’s blog ahead of joining. And if you do encounter particular issues with game play, help can be sought through the MadPea group chat – just please don’t give out answers to clues or SLurls, etc!

Don’t forget, as well, that pictures you take as a part of your involvement in The Collection can be uploaded to the MadPea Flickr pool, where they might win you a L$500 MadPea gift card  if one is selected at the MadPea picture of the week.

So if it’s not too late, and you’re already half-way through The Collection, happy clue-solving!

Related Links

• The Collection starting SLurl (Rated: Moderate)
• How to Play The Collection – MadPea blog

MadPea’s UNIA has been two years in development, which is an incredibly long period by Second Life standards. So long has it been, that given all the setbacks, Queen Pea Kiana Writer herself wondered if UNIA might ever see the light of day, as the game about a living nightmare started to look as if it wanted to be a living nightmare.

But all good things come to those who persevere, and despite fate once again stepping in to force a final week’s delay on the original planned launch when as one of the key members of the MadPea team was taken in to hospital (they are fine now), the gates to UNIA are now officially OPEN!

I’ve had the privilege of witnessing some of the development of the game over the last two years, including touring some of the locations, but I don’t want to get into too many specifics on things in terms of gameplay; you can find a prologue in the MadPea blog, and the UNIA website provides you with all you need to know about how to play, and which also gives its own introduction to the game – you’ll be directed to UNIA website when you first arrive at the game’s starting point.

However, in summary, you are the principal character caught in an unfolding story played across multiple locations spread over the two UNIA regions. The story starts on the edge of the strange little town of Molimo, where your car unexpectedly decided to ruin what was otherwise a good day by wrapping itself around a roadside billboard. Things get worse when, as you attempt to find some assistance, someone kidnaps you, plunging you into a nightmare world through which you must travel if you are to survive and understand what is going on…

Gameplay is a mixture of point-and-click interaction with objects and NPCs, and first-person (Mouselook) combat, making for quite a mix. Your progress is monitored by your HUD, as is your health, and items and weapons you obtain along they way are also recorded and held ready for use within it. HUDs are available to buy at the start point, and will cost L$400, L$750 or L$1,000, depending on the extra weapon lock pick and shields you opt to purchase with your HUD. All three options come with at least one UNIA uniform made by Damien Fate. Keep in mind as well, that the HUD not only enables gameplay, but also prevents you from cheating. Take it off while in the UNIA regions for example, and you die; attempt to teleport or fly, and you die.

The combat element of the game comes when fending off the less-than-friendly monsters you’ll encounter at various points along the way. Surviving such attacks is a mixture of ensuring you are properly armed, be it with a rake or other implement / weapon you obtain along the way, or by being suitably fleet of foot and doing a runner. Should you have the misfortune of dying, you can be restored by walking into the light – but it does come at a cost.

There is much to be found and collected as you progress through the game – and gathering items, surviving attacks, etc., all accumulate points (recorded by your HUD) which can later be traded for prizes (totals are also logged on the UNIA leader board on the website). As such, the various locations in which you find yourself require careful exploration – the items you may need will not reveal themselves to you until you are physically close to them, and some may animate your avatar – so don’t be surprised if this happens.

Be warned – exploring in this way also means you are vulnerable to attack from the aforementioned nasties, so always be on your guard! And remember, even the most innocuous object you find lying around and can pick up might have a use at some point…

Continue reading “MadPea’s UNIA: “it’s here!”” →

It all started as a Dream.

In November 2012 I wrote the first draft of the plan. UNIA would be groundbreaking. UNIA would be our first fully interactive and immersive adventure with 1st person shooter elements. UNIA would be delivered in stages pushing the limitations of Second Life and showing game designers what is possible to do in this virtual world.

In January 2015 I was wondering if I had tried to bite off more than one could chew.

Thus Kiana Writer, head of MadPea Productions frankly opened a blog post in February 2015. In it, she outlined some of the trials an tribulations that she and the MadPea team have encountered in trying to bring UNIA, an immersive games that is huge in scope.

The downs have been many – but so has the overall up; so much so that the launch date has been set – UNIA opens its doors to Second Life residents on Monday April 20th.

To prepare for the launch, and over on MadPea’s brand new blog (make sure you update any bookmarks if you haven’t already), Kiana provides a prologue to the main story. It’s written from the perspective of a main character – Emily – who, having departed a wedding, awakes to find herself strangely dressed, feeling physically, in a barn somewhere with a dead body …

“You must come with me right now!” someone yells and when I look into the direction of the voice I notice a rope ladder dropping down right in front of me. “Drop that hand and climb up, you must hurry!” the voice continues. For some reason I do as I’m told and take a last look at the body on the floor before putting my bare foot on the ladder and starting to climb.

At the top I face a tall, heavyset black man in his 40s, all dressed in military gear. I haven’t said a word to him and it seems as if I don’t have to. He knows what I’m going through.

…And thus the player is launched into a world that is both nightmare and terrifyingly real, and with a secret lying at its heart…

A year ago, I was one of a number of people privileged to be taken on a personal tour of the UNIA sets and puzzles within UNIA, with Kiana and another of the MadPea talents, RAG Randt. What I saw back then was mind-bogglingly good, and the team have since had almost a year to improve, tweak, update and enhance. Thus, I have little doubt that UNIA is going to live up to expectations in its depth of immersion, its content, and it engagement with players.

As a part of the run-up to the launch, MadPea are running a special challenge, which is introduced thus:

We’re getting closer and closer to release, and as that time draws near, what are you up to? How are you passing the time? Are you preparing, buffing up your muscles, working out your brains? Are you eating a lot of pastries? Are you snoozin’ all day to rest up for your marathon play session?

On offer is the chance to receive the UNIA Gold Package when the adventure opens on April 20th. This includes the game HUD, triple shield, uniform (generously donated by Damien Fate from FATEplay) in three colours, and a gold lock pick for a pistol.

To be in with a chance to be awarded the Package, all you have to do is:

• Take a photo of yourself in-world as you wait for UNIA arrive, using the notes above as possible guidelines).
• Add the snapshot to a note card entitled “Preparing for UNIA! – [Your Avatar Name]” – please make sure you give you avatar full legacy name – not your display name
• Include a brief description of your snapshot in the note card – no more than 144 characters!

Send the completed card to RaffiGirl Koffenbaum in-world. Favourites from those received will be posted on the MadPea blog on alternate days, like this one. Refer to the challenge blog post for the criteria the MadPea team are looking for in submissions in order to select their favourite, who will be awarded the Gold Pass.

You can also get ready for UNIA by helping the MadPea team and Draxtor Despres film a brand new promotional trailer for the game.

If you’re willing to have video footage of your physical self included in the new promo video, and are lucky enough to be selected, you could also be rewarded with the UNIA Gold Package. See the MadPea video promo blog post for more information on what’s required.

Finally, you can also get yourself ready by watching  the current trailer for UNIA, and by keeping an eye on the new MadPea blog for upcoming news and information on the game.

“UNIA has been a game more than two years in the making,” Kiana confided in me as we talked about the upcoming launch. “And one thing we’re aware of is because of that, some of the locations might seem a little dated in setting. Cornfields, for example seem to be everywhere in Second Life today, when two years ago, you could count the number in SL on the fingers of one hand! 😀 .”

Well, cornfields may have multiplied in SL since the start of 2013, but there is still only one UNIA. As such, I don’t think Kiana has anything to worry about on that score; from April 20th, people are going to be too immersed in the story and game play to think about the number of fields or any kind they’ve seen in Second Life!

At 12:00 noon SLT on Sunday, February 1st, 2015, MadPea’s latest grid-wide challenge, Buried launches. Their first major event of the new year, Buried contains all that people have come to love about MadPea’s games: mystery, clue-solving, immersive interaction, and fun. Buried offer all this  – and a lot more, as I found out, when I was, with a small number of other bloggers, invited to preview the game on Friday, January 30th.

Keen MadPea players are probably already aware of elements within the challenge: in keeping with the most popular MadPea games, it is focused on unravelling the mysterious disappearance of a young woman, and contains MadPea’s trademark blend of grid-wide vendor locations (25 in all), rewards, and the introduction of geocaching as a part of the gameplay structure.

Once formally opened, Buried will run for a period of two months, a time frame which reflects the slow burn nature of the  challenge – and I’m intentionally using that word repeatedly. Buried isn’t a hunt, it isn’t even in quite the same vein as MadPea’s  recent mystery adventures such as Blood Letters or the very popular Room 326 / Mad City events involving the Silent Peacock Hotel. It really is an immersive narrative, focused on the missing character, Lilyanna Morano.

Players will begin their investigations at a holiday location amidst a small cluster of remote islands. Here they must uncover the first clues to set them on their way. The aim here is not simply to get people into the “hunt” aspects of the challenge; it is, like the opening chapter of a book or the initial opening of a film or story-arc television series, about setting the scene and establishing the characters.

“What we want to do when the player first comes here is that they well feel the story, and they will really get into who the main character is,” Kiana Writer, who heads-up MadPea and is responsible for writing the Buried story and who took a hand in the opening region’s design, explains. “Who Lily is, how she lives, what she does. So we tried to leave a lot of little clues about her personality to find. They can actually take a boat to and from every island and explore each of them.”

Part of these explorations involve finding the essential element to the challenge activating the game HUD. This is supplied when players arrive on the main holiday island, but will not activate until such time as the first clue has been solved.

Once activated, the HUD reveals the geocaching nature of the game, and introduces you to the other “character” within it – that of the C-Me Corporation.

C-Me is the entity behind the new approach to geocaching Lilyanna was researching at the time of her disappearance – and they would seem to have a very twisted take on the technology.

Exhibiting something of a Mission: Impossible flair for theatrics, C-Me appear to be using geocaching to play a game of their own. snaring people entering their sphere of influence, and then toying with them and sending them hither and thither in the search for C-Me capsules.

But did they arrange for Lilyanna to vanish, or were their machinations merely the catalyst for her causing her own disappearance? The only way to find out is to enter into their game…

Also, should you participate in the challenge, do make sure you have both local sounds and the music stream active when exploring the islands; a considerable amount of work has gone into these not just visually, but audibly as well. Seeing and hearing the environment really is the only way to truly experience it. Do note, also, that because of the slow burn nature of the challenge, the number of people able to access the “holiday island” location is limited to a maximum of 20 at any given time – so patience is also very much part of this challenge.

“Gameplay and immersion is important to us with this game,” Axiomatic Clarity, the man responsible for the overall look and feel to the regions, and who designed the game HUD, explained. “We’ve put a lot of work into the usability of this build. We want people to be able to explore and discover the secrets and clues, and we’ve put in a lot of atmospheric elements, the lighting, the sounds.”

Exploration of the locations on the island is essential; it’s only through investigating Lily herself – the house she’d rented in order to write-up her research, the surrounding islands, and so on, that players will uncover the necessary clues that will both lead them to Lily’s hidden tablet, together with the means to access it once found in order to transfer the data it contains to their own (HUD) tablet. This in turn will draw them into C-Me’s mysterious game, and thus start them on their grid-wide journey of discovery.

I’m not going to give too much more away on the game itself. What I will say is that anyone who enjoys MadPea’s  narrative-lead adventures is bound to enjoy Buried, which will run for around two months following the opening on February 1st. The opening itself will be preceded by a launch party at !Exodus! Rock Club, starting at 10:00 SLT on Sunday, February 1st.

Putting something like buried together is a huge undertaking, as well as Kiana and Axiomatic, bringing the game together has involved the skills of some 20 people from across the globe, testament to both MadPea’s extraordinary reach and desire to bring compelling, immersive activities to Second Life, and to the platform’s own inherent abiliity to host such activities. That both succeed so well is exemplified by the eagerness with which each new game from the company is awaited by MadPea fans and players.

For my part, and while only exposed to a small part of Buried, I found myself entirely drawn into the concept and execution of the challenge. The gameplay in the opening “chapter” on the island where everything kicks-off is completely immersive and requires a level of engagement which encourages the player to seek out more – not because there are prizes from some 25 vendors to be obtained, but because there is a real challenge involved here; you’re seeking to find – possibly rescue (who knows?) a missing person and get to the bottom of just what C-Me is really all about; rewards gathered along the way are actually quite secondary. As such, Buried marvellously builds on the successes of recent events such as the aforementioned Blood Letters and Room 326 stories – and offers an intriguing stepping stone towards MadPea’s upcoming (and completely stunning) UNIA.

Note that SLurls for Buried will be available when the game officially launches. With thanks to Kess and Kiana for arranging the preview and the invitation to attend.