Saturday, January 31, 2015

Inside the Mind of a Pea

What's always true about MadPea is that there is more than meets the eye. Instead of telling you what MadPea isn't, let's talk about what it is: It's a group of people that create immersive games, and it is also a group of people that have successfully created a community out of the players of those games.

Eventually, while taking part in any of the MadPea adventures, a player comes across somehow, somewhere, the MadPeas group. For me, it was when I was having trouble deciphering a clue, and looked around me desperately. I saw other avatars also playing the game, but who were wearing "MadPea" tags. Are they staff members? I wondered. With a little basic snooping (I have pretty good snooping skills, haha) I discovered there was an actual group, and it seemed to be for people to ask for hints and help while playing the game. After only a short time, I discovered that this group was very unique unto itself. I'd joined other "Hunt Help" groups in the past, and I have to say, the MadPea group is quite unique.

To help give you an idea, meet Sue Chardin, SuzieQX2 Oh, Rosie Simca, moi and Pawo. Each one of these individuals is in the MadPea in-world group, and are active participants in group chat - where Peas chatter about hunts, ask for hints when there's a game under way, or just generally hang out and have fun between games.

Rosie Simca


Sue, Suzie, Rosie, moi and Pawo have been members of MadPea for varying amounts of time, and they all come from different backgrounds. But the one thing they have in common, is what they feel it means to "be a Pea."

"To me it means to be loyal to the Pea. We all bow to the Pea," giggled Rosie, betraying the sense of fun most Peas seem to be equipped with. "The people you encounter have been courteous, respectful and non-judgmental. To be a Pea you must be a little Mad."

The others agreed. When asked the same question, the idea of "fun" and being a little "Mad" is at the forefront of their responses. So is a love of story and puzzles.

"To love solving puzzles but most of all, being friendly, and helpful and have a sense of community with the other members," added Sue.

" You have to be curious, have a slightly warped sense of humor," said Pawo, and with a grin, added "but warped in all the right ways!"

moi
All members also seemed to agree on the theme of community running through the group - and it's true. If a new member pops in and says hello, they are always greeted by at least one Pea who says "hello" in return. Usually from there, friendly chat ensues.

Pawo, one of the newer of the members interviewed, had this to say about the MadPea community: "Very welcoming, slightly twisted, immensely amusing and creative. Make sure to bring your sense of humor and your curiosity, and be ready to explore wondrous things with awesome people."

So, what are these MadPeas expecting out of BURIED, the newest interactive adventures put on by MadPea Productions?

Moi says that she is "looking forward to another hunt that makes me forget to check the time!"
" The same I always expect....fun! I enjoy testing myself to see if I can do it without help," said SuzieQ. "You get so involved!" she added, agreeing with moi.

What are these players basing their experiences on, you might wonder.  Sue has been playing MadPea adventures since Lost Treasure of the Incas, which she says has been her favorite so far. She thought the sim was fantastic, and the game was as immersive as it could get.

SueQX2 Oh
Newer players like Pawo and moi were more recently introduced when they discovered Green Mire, where players were sent around a swamp to figure out what happened to two boys who seemed to have disappear mysteriously.

In spite of this vast difference in experience, one thing is clear: They expect great things from MadPea's newest adventure.

" I am hoping to be totally immersed into a realm of creative storytelling and exploration," said Rosie.

Pawo seemed to agree: " I'm hoping for a great storyline, one that draws me and makes me not want to depart until I've explored all there is for me to see and discover."


Be sure to discover this community for yourself as you explore the adventure that will be BURIED. You won't be sorry, and you will most certainly be welcomed. Bring your twisted smile with you when you do!

Monday, January 26, 2015

A Freudian purr?


Sigmund is one of the common gacha items from the Nutty Trotters collection available at Oh My Gacha Winter 2015 



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Sunday, January 25, 2015

Sunday Necking with Frida


Frida is one of the common gacha items from the Nutty Trotters collection available at Oh My Gacha Winter 2015 



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Saturday, January 24, 2015

BURIED early access Raffle !!!





Psst.. come closer.. yes you!!

Are you sad that you didn't get a free early access & HUD to our newest Hunt BURIED?
 
A little birdie just told to me that there are still 3 Tickets available !!!

At our Satelite Store @ Legione we placed a raffle board with 1 of the golden tickets to Buried. To enter the Raffle, simply pay the board 10 L$. You can enter as many times as you want. Each of the 3 Raffles rounds will run 48 hours and then a winner will be chosen.

Good Luck Peas!


Teleport to the Satelite Store
The MadPeas have been at it again, and on February 1st, they will be bringing you Buried, its next interactive gridwide adventure.

Curious about what this next event will be like? Read on,  because we've got some sneak peeks for you that are sure to get you even more excited about what's coming up.

I had the opportunity to visit Buried's starting point a few days ago. Upon arriving there, I was struck right away by MadPea's trademark ability to use landscaping and sim lighting to quickly set the tone of the story. There's a peacefulness about the sim: crickets chirping, water lapping at the island's shore, a lone gull circling and crying. A rustic, worn cabin stands with its door open, seemingly innocently inviting the visitor to come in.

Then, there's the shovel. Point buried into the ground, the "missing" poster, the dark trees, the murky water ... something, clearly, is amiss. You can't quite put your finger on it, but one can sense that there is a darkness hidden in this peaceful beauty.

As I wandered around the empty sim, I came across yet more of what MadPea loves to do: leave seemingly innocuous scene-setters behind. They are, however, always triggers for questions and for the eerie mood, and quite often part of the story.

We all know, however, that there will be more to this ... much more. A story, a HUD to help us carry out the adventure, objects to interact with for clues, hints, and tools to use to find our answers of the day. We'll also get sent all around the grid in search of clues to further the story, and get closer to solving the mystery.

The drama woven in these interactive adventures come about thanks to the collaboration between a group of very creative individuals. Among them (and there are many) include MadPea's founder and director Kiana Writer, partner in crime Axiomatic Clarity who is responsible for branding, graphics, sim and HUD design, and scripter Fuzz Difference. The adventures, as seen in its last game Blood Letters, are a perfect marriage between all these elements - sim building, scripting, and story-telling.
Kiana sums it up best in her words: "It's important that everything is done to strike that mood we are after. The storyline, the sounds, the graphics, the elements etc."

"We want the players to know Lily, the missing girl. Who she is, how she lives, how she loves, what makes her tick," said Kiana. "We want the players to feel her so that they want to go and search for her. ... that and for getting the 500,000US Dollar reward from her loving husband."

She added that in Buried, participants will have a couple of things to look forward to that are a little different from past games. The first is that we will have an entire sim to explore before heading off to the grid-wide adventure. The second is that MadPeas has created a YouTube playlist for players to listen to while playing the game to get us in the mood.

On a personal level, Buried is a unique experience for Kiana because it is the first time she got to make a game with her partner Axiomatic Clarity. "I think that it makes a huge difference," she explained. "As he's building this and doing the graphics, we are both living and breathing the story and I believe it will show in a way that will immerse people into the storyline more."


Axiomatic (or Ax, for short) seems to concur. "The idea for Buried was born quickly out of our very close friendship which became later a solid partnership in Second Life. We had the concept ready early on and the land terraforming and decoration followed," said Ax. "I have background in building and usability here in SL so I took on designing the HUD for Buried, an integral part of how the adventure works. Kiana is an exceptional writer and an impressive manager at tasking this."
Speaking on MadPea's unique ability to meld different art forms in their interactive adventures, Ax says that what the partners in MadPea share as a common goal is building visions in SL that can't be found in Real Life. "... this is what we all share here, be it photography, pure building or the incredible mix of screenplay, writing and content creation that Madpea is, probably uniquely so in SL," explained Ax.

And on the mood that he was going for at the sim? As with many artists, Ax refuses to tell us what we should see. Rather, he says that "the mood is of a beautiful place that holds a horrific story to it. But it is built in a way that takes time to build and, I hope, does so in a very subtle way."

As for specifics on the HUD, we got a very polite "wait and see" response, but with a reminder that the public is welcome to participate in a photo contest that could win them free a HUD and early entry into Buried.

Of course, to complete the experience of the game, MadPea always provides us with objects with which we can interact so we are part of the setting and action of the story like in no other in SL. Again, Ax refrained from giving details, but promised that there would be a lot of interaction, more than before.

Now, is all of what happens seen by the team members as being about art? Not so much. Scripter Fuzz Difference doesn't see his role as being as much artistic as much as invisible, in many ways. "I can't see my part as being very creative," said Fuzz. "If my part is done well, the player sees what the designer intended, but my part is not visible." So, in a way, while Fuzz sees his job as being more "routine" and not as much about being creative, his role as scripter facilitates the designers' vision, and becomes part of the creation.

Ready to get started? Well, you can either sit and wait patiently for February 1st, or try your hand at winning MadPea's ongoing photo contest. Click here for entry details. Why not give it a try? You might just get the joy of getting a head start and a free HUD for this amazing new adventure.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Who can resist the call of the Cthulhu?


Tchaikovsky is one of the common gacha items from the Nutty Trotters collection available at Oh My Gacha Winter 2015 



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Tuesday, January 20, 2015

BURIED - VENDORS REVEALED!



VENDOR LIST FOR MADPEA'S LATEST GAME REVEALED

Buried starts on 1st February and has an amazing line up of participating vendors. More info to follow soon so keep up to date here on the blog, or on our Facebook page and by joining our in-world group. 
































You could be in with a chance of early entry to the prizes and a free hud by entering our BURIED Photo Contest. More Information available here: http://madpea.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/buried-photo-contest-starts-today.html


Sunday, January 18, 2015

Gallileo Figaro....MAGNIFICO!!!


Galileo is one of the common gacha items from the Nutty Trotters collection available at Oh My Gacha Winter 2015 

TELEPORT TO OH MY GACHA


BURIED - PHOTO CONTEST STARTS TODAY



WIN A BURIED HUD AND EARLY ACCESS TO THE LATEST MADPEA GAME

The latest MadPea game and hunt starts on 1st February and we're giving 5 lucky Peas the chance to get a head start on this exciting adventure.

Without giving too much away there will be an element of Greed involved in the storyline for this epic mystery and we'd love to know how you interpret that BEFORE the game hits the grid. 

Submit your Second Life Photos to the Contest by sending a copy to Folkesson Resident (Björn Folkesson) in world and submitting to our Flickr group (not essential). Please make sure your SL name is clearly indicated in the name of your photo texture and in the description if you submit a Flickr entry. 

Our Flickr group can be found here: MadPea Games Flickr

CONTEST RULES: This is the important bit.

By submitting a photo you are accepting this rules.

Closing Date for Photos to be sent is:  Midnight SLT on 28th January 2015

You must include your SL Name in the title of your photograph texture before sending it to us. 

Judges will be looking for technical proficiency, use of humour, fun and creativity - let your imagination fly! 

By entering you accept that your photo may be used for marketing purposes and be publically displayed in-world. 

Entries will only be considered if we have received the photo in-world.

No alternative prizes will be offered.

Multiple entries to the contest accepted.

Winners will be notified and advised on the 29th January 2015

Saturday, January 17, 2015

This little piggy went to.....Oh My Gacha!


Albert is one of the common gacha items from the Nutty Trotters collection available at Oh My Gacha Winter 2015 

TELEPORT TO OH MY GACHA


Thursday, January 15, 2015

Karl is NOT an Ass!



Karl is one of the common gacha items from the Nutty Trotters collection available at Oh My Gacha Winter 2015 

TELEPORT TO OH MY GACHA

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Rock Me Amadeus!!!



Amadeus is one of the common gacha items from the Nutty Trotters collection available at Oh My Gacha Winter 2015 

TELEPORT TO OH MY GACHA

Monday, January 12, 2015

Nutty Trotters Trump them all!


ONCE UPON A TIME...


Not so long ago in a land very far away was a farm that was called The Funny Farm. It was full of all kinds of nutty animals whose sole purpose was to entertain Princess Karenina, the daughter of Queen Anna and King Igor.

The King and Queen would have done anything to keep their little Princess safe and happy. They sent out their best men to search the land for the nuttiest animals to join the Funny Farm and keep their precious daughter laughing. The brave men had to come up with the most imaginative traps to capture the rare creatures and each victory was celebrated with a huge feast in the Kingdom.

Everything was wonderful until one day the evil King Nikolay from the land next door realized that his people were all sad and not smiling anymore. When he was told about the Funny Farm and the nutty animals it contained, he became extremely jealous and decided that those animals needed to belong to his kingdom.

King Nikolay came up with a master plan and one night his men sneaked into the Funny Farm and stole all the animals and transported them into Nikolay’s Morbid Meadow.

When Princess Karenina woke up that morning and ran down to the Funny Farm to play with the animals, she realized they were gone. She kept crying and crying and nothing would calm her down. King Igor decided to declare a war against King Nikolay to get the nutty animals back.

The animals soon realized that the Morbid Meadow was not a fun place. They were fed only porridge once a day and no one was petting them and taking them out for a run like Princess Karenina and her friends had done. They were forced to sing and dance to entertain the evil King Nickolay and his men. Sometimes they even had to wear tutus.

King Igor’s attacks towards the Morbid Meadow were expected and unsuccessful until the day they managed to get in through the gates and be face to face with each other. King Igor was begging King Nickolay to give him his animals back and tried to bribe him. King Nickolay was mean. He had already got bored of the animals but he was not going to give them back. No way. No one would take anything away from him. He gave his men an order to behead the animals, and that order was executed there and then.

Devastated King Igor and his men went back to The Funny Farm to share the tragic news. He was expecting more tears but his little Princess Karenina suddenly stopped the sobbing and said she knew exactly what she needed to do. She would save her animals!

During the night Princess Karenina took a large bag of golden coins and ran to the woods to meet with the mighty Sorceress Kaylaana asking her for a resurrection potion in return of the golden coins. It didn’t take Kaylaana long at all to brew the potion and the little Princess together with her friends sneaked past the drunken men of King Nickolay into the Morbid Meadow to find the heads of her poor animals on the ground. Karenina poured the potion over the heads and the heads came back to life! She had to shush them to be silent so they could sneak back out too. The children grabbed sticks and put the heads on them. They rode the animals back home to the Funny Farm, where they belonged.

The animals were fed cake and biscuits and they were so happy again. Even the grown ups in Kingdom came and rode the animals on the sticks and everyone was laughing.

By Kiana Writer, Founder and CEO, MadPea Productions

YOU CAN COLLECT YOUR VERY OWN NUTTY TROTTERS AT OH MY GACHA



Sunday, January 11, 2015


OMG IT'S NUTTY TROTTERS!

Oh My Gacha is open and our Nutty Trotters are reveling in their first appearance on the grid. Exclusive for the duration of the event these very nutty, kooky hobby horses come with sounds and animations. 50L$ per play and there are 8 commons and 2 rares to collect! 






Thursday, January 8, 2015

MadPea presents NUTTY TROTTERS for OMG Gacha!


MEET THE NUTTY TROTTERS!

MadPea are proud to be taking part in the January 2015 round of Jersey Shore's OMG Gacha.

8 commons
2 rares
all with animations
all with sounds
100% original mesh
resize script to fit your avatar
L$50 per play

AVAILABLE FROM 10TH JANUARY AT OMG GACHA


Saturday, January 3, 2015

BURIED - Game coming soon!

BURIED - A brand new grid-wide adventure from MadPea Productions begins February 1st!

A popular writer Lily Morano is missing after researching into new kind of geocaching, and her loving husband is offering a half a million dollar reward for the first one to find her!

Will you be the one?

Do you dare to discover the roots behind this thrilling story, that will keep you on glued to your seat for hours?




Thursday, January 1, 2015

Mad New Year 2015

Dear Green Little Peas, 

Welcome to the year 2015! A year when I hope you all will learn something new, love and be loved, surprise yourselves and let us fill it with good madness and magic!

Every year I am amazed at still being here. This is the 7th year that I will be steering this ship with the mad and talented crew to keep pushing and making a difference in Second Life. Still after all these years I get just as excited about each new story and project. Seeing the MadPea community growing year after year and getting the instant feedback is truly priceless.

While we are getting prepared for SL2, the Second Life we are currently enjoying is growing and becoming more stable than ever before. Today we can do things we couldn’t do a year or two years ago, allowing our games become more immersive and interactive.


I feel proud of the projects we accomplished in 2014:

Mad City was alive with events, galleries and stores and held the Lost Mine Hunt where we collaborated with the Dwarfins and held a massive Celebrity Auction raising $1,345,897L for Feed-A-Smile.

We are doing another Celebrity Auction this year and let’s see if I end up singing at Furry Fair like I did last year!

We sponsored One Billion Rising supporting women suffering from violence.

We got into the Gacha Madness starting with the Mieville Midway Gacha event, followed by our own Steampunk and Art Gacha Fairs and then joining the big Arcade.

We drowned Mad City with style.. it was flushed away and missed by many… so while working on UNIA we decided to build the Green Mire Swamp to give you a place to hang out and meet each other.. and search for the two boys that went missing there. Little did I know how much you would get into finding them and after dozens of requests we decided to create a massive hunt to give a backstory to what happened to the boys. This became our most played adventure of the year!

In November it was time to test the limits a little bit and do our very first adult rated adventure called Blood Letters. The feedback for it was so overwhelming that we’ll definitely have to try something like that again.. or who knows, maybe the Mantis will return with a sharpened knife.

We closed the year by giving you a sugar rush with Scrumptious Sweets that is still going on for a few more days, so make sure to get your sugar fix before it's gone! 

We want to thank you all for your continuous support. YOU are the reason we are creating the games and events for and your feedback is precious. 

We are excited about year 2015 as we are shaping things up a little bit and getting ready for the big UNIA launch. Before that though, we are going to give you a little treat and bring a story called BURIED on the grid in February. 

Our team is growing as we have welcomed new talent to the mad crew. I'm excited to introduce the fresh new faces of Wavie Haller, who is known for his brand, Consignment, Vladimiro Renoir, who will start creating our animations, Björn Folkesson, who will been seen on the Community a lot and Axiomatic Clarity, who is bringing in his expertise in branding. 


And on that note.. I'm excited to introduce you the brand new logo.. 
a tiny drop of elegance, a spoonful more madness.. 
Ladies and Gentlemen: the Fresh Face of the Pea.


With mushy hugs, 
Kiana Writer