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| (from the scavenging album) |
The new Madpea hunt has several advantages to the last one; mainly, that it's separated into two parts. Find all the Missing Person posters of Alex's missing wife; punch in the numbers into Alex's phone; get links. You can use each link then, or wait; the links are stored in the address book portion of the phone. Ingenious programming, really. My recommendation: spend the time you need to spend in the town itself, first--both to get an idea of the story, but also, to ensure that you get all the posters, so you can just hit the locations later.
And I have a special place in my heart for jackalopes, so these little guys were cute to see.
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| (from the scavenging album) |
There were a few places where I was pulled out of the immersion of the hunt. One started before we ever set foot on the hunt site; namely, the fact that Alex is fully clothed from the waist up, and barely at all from the waist down. I literally had to make leggings for him to wear under the scraps and tatters of his jeans, because there was no way, even if I was wearing a male avatar for the evening, that I was going to wander around a haunted town with my entire butt hanging out.
Besides, Alex would get cold.
How'ver, this was the other thing that pulled me out of the immersion. The phone numbers. Some were seven digits (standard numbers); some were ten digits (standard plus area code); but from there they went all over the place. The highest set of numbers we found had fifteen digits; the shortest, four. What the hell, people?
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| (from the scavenging album) |
This one just amused me. He looked so happy. But he's missing his hands, and his feet. Why?
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| (from the scavenging album) |
Really, I'm not the one to ask, math has never been my strong suit.
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| (from the scavenging album) |
This one takes some explaining. I'd noticed the spinning off-kilter (more on that in a bit), but I hadn't noticed the difference in the blades. So, I present to you the blades from the top: wide, curving rusted metal, battered, showing definite signs of wear...
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| (from the scavenging album) |
...and the fan blades from the bottom: thinner, tapered blades made of rattan and dark wood. Huh?
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| (from the scavenging album) |
And what I noticed earlier: the fan spins off-kilter. Either it needs adjusting, or it was designed to be off-center, so avatars would dread walking under it. Not sure, either way.
Now, I'd say more about this hunt, but it runs until June. So I'm not going to show anything more than general landscape shots. I also have an idea how it's going to play out, based on some of the things Alex has "remembered", so far. But again, I want to hold off until I finish the hunt, and see if I'm right.
The sim that Sanity Falls currently sits on is a wonderfully landscaped thing. While some of the sounds get unnerving, and some of the happenings in the town are definitely on the dark side, there's very little that made me jump out of my skin--or Alex's, as it happens. But then, what disturbs me generally gives other people nightmares, and I don't say that lightly. Still, considering my familiarity with all things horrifying, MadPea Productions did a great job.
I'm not damning them with faint praise--the texturing is amazing in spots, though some of that is attributable to Noctis, who've always done impressive work. There are odd symbols that pop up and sounds that recur, and some of the things Alex completely freaks out over just makes the whole thing more surreal.
Ultimately, I'd recommend it. I know less than nothing about the swag available when we start hitting those links; I'm mainly just saying it's worth it for the experiences in Sanity Falls itself. It's L$100 for the HUD, and you can buy that at the game start point, above Sanity Falls (or, if you're not flush at present, click the Midnight Mania there for a chance at a free HUD). You can see the trailer if you want more information (though I think it gives some potential plot points away). And you can find out more about the entire hunt if you need that before getting involved, or see glimpses of the potential prizes up on off at MadPeas' new blog. You have until June 30th, so there's plenty of time before the hunt ends to get involved.
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