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zoratarojoestar · 25 days

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I hate the whole "Maria is alive cause of Virginia's description" debate right now...so let me throw out my wild take on how she isn't alive, →in the game's current time← cause I want to poke the fire and see how it goes :D

CW below cut for implications of Johnny committing immoral acts - I know that's a line drawn/debate in itself but idc

Also look at this man, he's done the worst shit imaginable but I still love his stupid ass♡

So... firstly...many are clinging to the line in Virginia's description that reads "But instead of finding Jesse, what she discovered was Maria, beaten and tortured, barely clinging to life." Now that's all solid and concrete, until you listen again to voice lines we have in the game already. This line in her description is adding ontop of the existing lore (in my opinion)

Starting the dot to dot puzzle back at Nancy; Nancy's line "Johnny really liked that girl-". Others online are saying 'Johnny is keeping her around the house somewhere' or 'Johnny actually liked Maria'. I agree with the first idea, to a point. For me, I've loved seeing Johnny's cold room, the items in his shack, how he's described by the family, ect. Starting at the women's clothing on his shelves, the magically clean fabric on his counter too many fridges and freezers and his own line "you're going to look real nice, next to that friend of yours" and everyone's favourite, "you ain't getting away, I'm keepin' you!" , very much implying he keeps victims of his fancy/liking in said cold storage units. Maybe Johnny thought Maria was a pretty girl, pretty enough to add to his collection of stolen victims, however-

This fabric is this ↙ Along with the amount of clothes he has stored; for what purposes, I have my own headcanons but I'll leave them to their own post

Moving on to the Cook's line "We couldn't have Johnny springing no love child round here-" and Nancy's "I'd stay out of my secret room if I was you" to me, implies Johnny wanted her 'beaten, tortured and barely clinging to life' body for certain immoral purposes. I could even say it suggests he knew she was alive at some point into hiding her away, but her being in such a state-not enough to fight him, she's on borrowed time anyways. Cook, with the "We-" in the line above, implies more of the family (maybe Hitch or Leatherface to finish what he started in Petals) to kill her and have her now confirmed dead body hidden away from Johnny in Nancy's 'secret' room.

(Adding a sprinkle extra and suggest Johnny's line "I didn't really want to hurt her-" being a lie, however "-but...as they say...family first ya know" I feel is partly true. I feel it adds to the above that maybe he saw them kill Maria when she was found out trying to escape with Virginia. I'm not saying he's remorseful of her death or 'he misses her', I feel he's disappointed in himself, blaming himself that he's been caught; yet another mistake/misfortune he has to live with; also more ammunition for the family to throw at him.)

Virginia may have found Maria alive before she herself was captured, but- just a small but, they were said to have both been re-captured and by that point, wherever Johnny was hiding her before Virginia found her, was out of the bag and known about by the family; no longer his little secret.

End of Take

I could just be hollering nonsense or overthinking these lines more than I should be, but I love the lore for this game and this is the story I'm reconnecting together with the new info; also with this debate being the only thing I see in the TCM fandom right now, it's hard not to think about and have your own opinions on, thanks for reading my word vomit

#johnny slaughter #johnny sawyer #texas chainsaw game #tcm headcanons #tcm game #virginia tcm #maria flores #maria tcm

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rangerangel · 1 year

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RA Characters as teams I've seen in the escape room I work at (inspired by @redrose-arrow 's restaurant post):

Will, Horace, Gilan

They struggle to understand that the room is a collaborative effort and want everything to be a competition. This is their first escape room, and they have booked our hardest one. They agree that they will not ask for any hints--they end up asking for 15 hints. Horace accidentally breaks a prop and is overly apologetic. We give them free drinks because they're so nice. They manage to get out with 5 minutes left and are incredibly excited about it. They huddle up in our lobby and do a chant before AND after the room. We're impressed they managed to turn an escape room into a sporting event.

Alyss, Cassandra, Jenny

They have a team name picked out and are ready to set the store record. They have dressed up in theme with the room, and have brought their own props to make the experience immersive. Halfway through the room, they get distracted and start dancing with each other to music from their phones . They cheer SO loudly every time they solve a puzzle. We know from the second they walk in the door that it's going to take them the full hour to solve the room. When they radio in, they trade bad jokes for hints. We're pretty sure they might be a little drunk, but they're a good time.

Halt and Pauline

They book our cowboy room, and are extremely quiet with the staff. We're all afraid that they are going to hate the room because they aren't interacting with our introduction at all. To our surprise, they put on cowboy hats as soon as they get in and pretend to shoot each other with the prop guns. They only ask for a few hints, but every time they get the answer to a puzzle we see Pauline throw her arms up on camera because she's been telling Halt how to solve it correctly for 15 minutes. They manage to translate the braille puzzle entirely without using the translation sheet, but get stuck on how to input three numbers into a cash register. Every time they radio in, Halt ends his sentence with "over." They tip $20 on the way out.

Duncan, David, Arald, Maddie

They come in for Maddie's birthday, and she's the only one who's done an escape room before. They choose one of our horror rooms, and we're pretty sure they have no idea what they're getting themselves into. Despite showing Duncan how to use a walkie talkie, we absolutely cannot get them to hold onto the button long enough to understand what they're saying. David and Arald are having the most fun in trying to scare Maddie, but they're really just scaring each other. Duncan ends up sitting on the couch for most of the game watching everyone else and shouting encouragement. When we drop the final jumpscare, David and Arald scream so loudly we can hear them in the lobby. Maddie solves 90% of the puzzles, but they all have a great time. They decide to book another room on the way out, and Duncan pays in full. We adore them and talk about how sweet they were all day.

Morgarath

He books our paint splatter/escape room hybrid. He comes alone, and argues about signing our waiver (he doesn't want to put his name down). When he is led to the room, he is shocked that there is paint everywhere. We explain the concept of the room again and show him the ponchos to protect his clothes. He solves the puzzles quickly and gets to the paint. He radios in and asks what he's supposed to do with it. We explain the idea of a splatter room for the 4th time. He leaves without touching the paint. A day later, he leaves a one-star Google review complaining that he didn't know there would be paint. In order to buy the tickets he had to navigate a page full of pictures of people covered in paint. We pray he doesn't come back.

#ra #rangers apprentice #ranger's apprentice #escape room #will treaty #horace altman #gilan davidson #alyss mainwaring #princess cassandra #jenny dalby #halt o'carrick #pauline dulacy #king duncan #sir david #baron arald #maddie altman #morgarath #angelwrites

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onewhoturns · 8 months

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A-Z Challenge GAME 5

Starting D today, so here we have: E games!

This one is... hm. To be honest, with the first-person games I'm a *little* concerned that I might feel nauseous if I try to muscle through a couple of these in a short time frame >< The only one I'm sure won't make me sick is Erica, but I've played a demo of Eternal Threads and it was mostly okay, not sure what to expect from Escape Academy, but just might not be a one- or two-session knockout, if it makes me feel ill -.-'

I also would need to find people able to play a session with me for that game, cause some of those achievements are multiplayer, but not many

As always, more info on the games under the cut.

Do me a solid this round cause y'all have ignored all the other fmv games and all the horror/thriller stuff from last round and I want to play one

1. Erica (2021)

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"Prepare to immerse yourself in an interactive live-action thriller, merging the world of film and game like never before. Erica is a young lady plagued with nightmares of her father's murder. With the traumatic events of her childhood dragged back into the light via grisly new clues, it's up to you to unearth the shocking truth. Explore the enigma of Delphi House where every choice you make influences how the game develops, with multiple endings awaiting you at the finale of the gripping branching narrative." Steam tags: choose your own adventure, fmv, interactive fiction, female protagonist, point & click, choices matter, puzzle, story rich, action

2. Escape Academy (2022)

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"Welcome to Escape Academy. Train to become the ultimate Escapist. Solve Puzzles. Hack Servers. Meet the Faculty. Brew the perfect cup of tea. Escape Rooms in single player or co-op with a friend - local or online!" Steam tags: escape room, puzzle, multiplayer, online co-op, visual novel, adventure, casual, mystery, story rich

3. Eternal Threads (2022)

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"Eternal Threads is a single-player, first-person story-driven puzzle game of time manipulation, choice and consequence. As an operative tasked with fixing corruption in the timestream, you have been sent to the North of England in May 2015, where six people died in a house fire. Prohibited from simply stopping the fire, you must instead manipulate the choices made by the housemates in the week leading up to it so that they all survive the event." Steam tags: choices matter, story rich, multiple endings, time manipulation, investigation, emotional, adventure, atmospheric

#a z challenge #turner plays things #poll #indie games #indie gamer #erica game #erica an interactive thriller #escape academy #eternal threads #propaganda: vote Erica :P

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insomaniacat · 8 months

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ask game 3, 7, 9

3. 1-3 games you've played in the last 12 months that you really enjoyed

Genshin Impact - I've been playing since around launch but fell off somewhere around the Sumeru patches due to burn out. But since the Fontaine region came out, I've come back to it. Always love the new scenery and OST, and there's always a lot to do in there. Looking forward to the future Archon Quests as well

Pokemon Scarlet/Violet - It's been a long time since I've played any of the Pokemon games, but I got my hands on Violet since I stumbled my way into World Championships last summer. While buggy, I think its open world is pretty fun, and I find it a lot easier to find pokemon that I want to catch and completing the Pokedex this time, as well

7. A series you've lost interest in

The Legend of Zelda - I'm sorry, it's a great game and puzzles were really fun, but I wasn't able to finish Ocarina of Time and there's just this feeling within me that believes that I can't get into the other games if I don't finish OoT. So after a long hiatus from it, I sort of lost interest

9. A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved

Elevator Hitch - an indie game by @/racheldrawsthis that I found on itch.io. I really like the art style and I think the idea of a 90s workplace was really novel. The point-and-click escape room puzzles were challenging, but I got this great sense of satisfaction when I figured out the puzzles. When I first found it, I played it with a few friends and we all collaborated on trying to make it to the end. 10/10 would recommend

#ask game answers #genshin impact #pokemon scarlet #pokemon violet #pokemon scarlet and violet #the legend of zelda #elevator hitch

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deathxcko · 1 year

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misc game changer sentence starters from 'escape the greenroom' part 2 ofc change pronouns and words as seen fit for muse!

"I've been here the whole time...?"

"Timbs, bitch!"

"Now it's time to get sexy."

"I don't know, this could be hell."

"Honestly, do you guys just want to take a minute?"

"I would love to get brunch."

"Saving Sam is not a priority. Anyway."

"Nows the part where we beat the shit outta you."

"So you know how magic has been my pandemic hobby?"

"It turns out that runs in the family."

"He's... He's evil Brennan, I had nothing to do with this. For the record, this is all him."

"Anyways, one of those keys opens the door..."

"I hope you're comfortable."

"I could really use some help with these knots..."

"Well, the good news is that it's only 50 plus keys to try."

"I'm gonna say something right now. And this is the fucking gospel truth you're hearing. If I open that door. And we discover there are more puzzles on the other side? You're taking a flight down the stairs."

"I don't know why you'd be angry with me!"

"Get some fucking water, in case there's a sauna on the other side of that door."

"Wow. You guys made a mess."

"That's the difference between walking into an escape room, and suddenly finding yourself in one.... is I immediately had zero respect for anything."

"We've got a bomb we've got to dismantle!"

"No no no no no no- don't use your fucking fists-"

"Wait wait wait wait... What if it's only one?"

"And we thought it was a fun magic trick. But actually, it was the first domino in a series of events that would lead us to fight each other. You, for me to cite Nuremberg in trying to make a camera person feel bad."

"That would be thematically appropriate."

"It's been really nice knowing you."

"This is absolutely the right move."

"I'm sorry... we're not done?"

"Yeah, now we're doing a fucking episode of 'Sam says'."

#rp meme #roleplay meme #rp prompt #roleplay prompts #roleplay prompt #sentence starters #sentence starter #please reblog!#&&; THE TRUTH NEVER SET ME FREE. I'LL DO IT MYSELF. ( games )

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mogai-headcanons · 2 years

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What’s rusty lake? Sounds neat!

STIMS SO HARD INFODUMP TIME

rusty lake is the name of the developers of and world depicted in the cube escape games, rusty lake hotel/roots/paradise, samsara room, and the white door! they're point-and-click adventure/escape puzzle games with very surreal/creepy vibes, following stories that are all connected by the titular rusty lake. they're apparently pretty heavily inspired by twin peaks, but i've personally never watched twin peaks, so i can't speak to that.

the cube escape games came out first, and they largely follow detective dale vandermeer, who's investigating the mysterious death of an unnamed (at first, later you find out her name is laura vanderboom) woman in the 1970s. he becomes obsessed with trying to figure out who she is and how she died, unable to think about anything else, and eventually finds himself drawn to the lake to get to the root of the weird/paranormal shit he's seen. when there, he ends up trapped within his memories, observed and sometimes aided by the mysterious 'enlightened' half-animal characters that currently populate the lake area.

some cube escape games are not part of this story directly - for example, cube escape: arles has you play as vincent van gogh in his bedroom in arles - but they all tie back to the central themes of the entire rusty lake series, namely the corruption of one's soul (which is typically shown to happen through the extraction of memories into the titular cubes, but can also occur due to death or immense suffering in life).

the most recent cube escape game actually had a live-action short film attached, which was incredible! they actually set up the room that the game takes place in and filmed dale doing the puzzles and holy shit it was so fun.

rusty lake hotel, roots, and paradise are prequels to the cube escape games, taking place over about 200 years and telling the stories of laura's ancestors and the lake in general.

in hotel, you play as the partially human version of laura's pet parrot (harvey) working at a lavish hotel on an island in rusty lake, which currently has five half-animal guests. you do individual 'escape rooms' in each of their hotel rooms, one per night, in order to serve the remaining guests a perfect meal the next day.

in roots, you follow the growth of the vanderboom family tree across 75 years and watch all the weird happenings within the family's lives (odd magic, alchemy, the search for immortality, murder plots, etc.), much of which is caused by the fact that the vanderbooms live near rusty lake.

in paradise, you follow the eilander family in 1796, who live on a small island in rusty lake that has been cursed to endure ten plagues after the death of the player character's mom, which you stop through odd rituals. the end of this game has a twist that heavily links it back to the cube escape games (i had to put my phone down and full-body stim when it happened kfjdgldk).

the white door is considered a spinoff and has a very different look from the rest of the games. it follows bob, laura's ex-boyfriend, as he's undergoing an odd mental health treatment in the same year she died. he has severe memory loss and begins to remember things as you play through the game.

samsara room was actually the first game the rusty lake developers made, but it was rereleased to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the series, and i didn't play it until the rerelease, which added plot connections to the games that came after its original release. it's a weird, time-traveling puzzle experience that a lot of fans theorize follows the recently-dead soul of a character from the series (i won't spoil who) as they are pondering on what they might want to become in their next life.

i played all of the games on my iphone, where the majority of them are free (i think the only ones that aren't are hotel, roots, paradise, and white door, all of which are under $5), and you can also play them on other mobile platforms and through steam! i highly highly reccomend not only playing them once, but doing a few playthroughs - i first played them in a random order after seeing on on the appstore, then played them in order of release, then played them in chronological order of events using a timeline guide i found on reddit, and i've also played them two or three more times just for fun in whatever order i pleased.

it can be difficult to fully understand the story with just one playthrough (or even with a few), and even though the series has been a special interest of mine for five years, i still benefit a lot from watching lore breakdowns and reading fan theories. the confusing nature honestly doesn't detract from the experience at all, as you're often meant to be confused until you learn something in a later game, and the series isn't over yet, so not everything is known. there's a new game coming this fall, actually!

tl;dr: the rusty lake games are surreal, point-and-click, escape room-style games full of mystery and intriguing themes of life and death. if you like mystery/puzzle games and can handle creepy themes and the occasional jumpscare, you should absolutely play them!

#long post #death ment #rusty lake

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cel-aerion · 1 year

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When you get this, please respond with five things that make you happy! Then send it to the last ten people in your notifications (anonymously). You never know who might benefit from spreading positivity. ♡

Thank you, stranger who I totally don't have a guess as to who you are!

I, um, got more rambly about these than I anticipated.

Chatting with friends online. Mostly on Discord, because that's where most of the people I chat with are, and the singular person I currently talk with the most is on there, but like... any chatting. I also want to be talking to someone else basically all the time, so technology that enables that has honestly been phenomenal (even if I can't always do this because I'm just awkward and horrible at carrying a conversation before I'm familiar with the other person).

Theorist videos. The various MatPat channels have been my comfort media for... I think it's getting pretty close to a year now (although in those first months it overlapped with James Acaster stuff). 2.5. Honorary mention to James Acaster, since I'm on the subject. Even though I'm not seeking out his stuff as actively lately, it still makes me happy to watch. And also, like, he has given me Memories that I will not forget until my dying day (though I'm still not sure whether that's good or bad).

Escape rooms. Escape rooms always help me unwind, I wish I could be doing them basically all the time, but they are expensive and also most don't allow just one person, so with few friends who live nearby to me I am SOL. Alternately, as a substitute, I wish I knew more good point-and-click escape games. Zero Escape was fantastic, Rusty Lake is always phenomenal... If I could find more like those (like as far as difficulty in solving), it'd be awesome. Anyways tldr is that I love having puzzles to solve.

My family. Maybe this is like an "absence makes the heart grow fonder" thing, but like, now that I've moved out, going to visit my parents, I always feel so refreshed after. I'm honestly grateful I have such a great relationship with them. ...although I also just got off the phone with my mom in what was supposed to be a "quick" call that ended up being an hour, so I'll admit there are moments when I'm still heaving a deep sigh about them. 4.5. Obviously family includes pets, both the ones in my house (my snake and hedgehog), and the ones that are technically my parents' (dog and cockatiel), but I spent years living with them and referring to them as "mine" and I don't care to break that habit.

Stuffed animals. Plushies. Give me all of them. Also blankets, which aren't really the same but are both in that "snuggly" category and I'm on the last number so they're being shoved together.

Special mention to "whatever the current hyperfixation is". Right now I'm kind of between interests, and kind of just jumping around in different things and seeing what sticks, but usually there's some huge thing that I'm thinking about like 90% of the time because I don't know how to consume things in moderation. So like... when I do have one of those, whatever that thing is is a thing that makes me happy.

#not a reblog #answered ask #me #also like pls don't feel awkward about me maybe knowing who sent this #honestly like it's been so long since i properly /interacted/ with people on tumblr that i'm delighted to be getting stuff like this again #so legit thank you

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4ragon · 1 year

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Eh fuck it, since we don't know how long Twitter is going to last, I'm going to start randomly posting my thoughts on random ass video games here. Here's all the shit I've been playing a bunch recently.

Portal Reloaded: I legit don't know if this is an official Portal dlc or just a mod, but it's free, and it's so much fun. Do you like Portal? Do you want Portal Hard Mode (TM TM TM)? Get this funky little game. It's not quite as funny as the OG, but man are the puzzles Tough.

Divinity Original Sin II: Have I played Divinity 1? No. But I am having a ton of fun with this thing. I was not expecting to enjoy myself so much, especially considering my hatred of games with the fucking hotbars, or whatever that little UI thing is at the bottom. At the very least, it's turn based and not real time so I don't find it nearly as obnoxious. I've also been A) doing Multiplayer, and B) using a mod so that I can take all 6 of the named characters with me, which unfortunately does have the tradeoff of making the game a little too easy at times. Also, since you're not suppose to be able to have all of the characters in one playthrough certain characters just straight up will not speak to each other? Which is kind of disappointing. Come on, guys, it's a 60 hour game at minimum, it doesn't have the kind of replayability you think it does.

Professor Layton and the Last Spector: Oh, so THAT'S why plvsaa is like that. I was not expecting to adore these characters as much as I thought I would, but they are just so much fun. I haven't technically been playing, since I'm watching my friend's playthough on twitch, but the puzzle difficulty range is so wild to me. Anything from "What color is the umbrella" to "do some fucking AP Geometry fucko," which I feel like I'd find a bit frustrating, though I guess the worst of it is optional.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (Not Finished): Can't give my final opinions here, but at minimum, the 3D graphics are a huge downgrade. I hate when visual novels decide to switch to 3D graphics. It's never going to be as charming as the sprites! Story-wise, I'm still deeply invested, and theorizing to hell and back is so much fun now that I'm getting into the swing of How Layton Games Do.

Zero Escape 999: Guys. This game drove me absolutely bonkers. I'll love any murder mystery visual novel put in front of me of course, but something about this game... Admittedly, it took me a few hours to get invested. I found the amount of talking a bit exhausting, especially when SO MUCH of it was dedicated to things like "Let's walk through this whole room trying doors, talk about it, and then start trying new doors." Like I don't need to know the logistics of "we're locked in a boat." I don't need to know where everyone is at all times. But once I went through one full playthrough, and could skip a lot of those boring logistical issues, I got SO into trying to figure out what was really happening. They really did give us the exact right amount of information to start figuring out what the Actual Plot was.

Zero Escape Virtue's Last Reward (Not Finished): I'm enjoying myself so much, but somehow, everything kind of feels like a downgrade? The 3D graphics (especially the lip flaps) suck ass, and there's so much stuff that feels like it's pulled from Danganronpa. Guys, I liked Danganronpa. I liked Zero Escape because it WASN'T Danganronpa. I don't know, I've hit my first real ending, so I'm hoping that it's just still waiting to impress me, but the main conflict just feels less personal this time around.

Dragon Age: Origins: I love playing watching my roommate play this game and then letting me make all of the narrative decisions. I just. I hate the gameplay, but the story is fun as heck. There are some weird writing choices, clearly, but the characters are fun to talk to and that's all that matters. It doesn't give me as strong found family vibes as other RPGs, but I still love them anyway.

Disco Elysium: You all know my thoughts on Disco Elysium. I love you Kim. Mostly, I'm just wondering what the fate of a potential sequel is going to be. I both want it and don't, but at the end of the day, if the original creators aren't able to wrest control from that game studio, I just worry the heart isn't going to be in the next one.

#j #i should be working #but i also was up at 4 am being Very Sick #so i think i can goof off a little today

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utopia-game · 7 days

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Interview with Mehul!

In case many ever wondered, the OG Mehul is still alive and kicking! Just so happens, one of our dedicated players, Frosty, managed an interview with him! Check out the interview below! And thanks Frosty!!

1. Do you ever play, or feel inclined to play, Utopia? Just out of curiosity?

Honestly, outside of the first few years running it, I really didn't play it much even when managing it. I would participate in the sense that I'd have an account and kind of watch the dynamics of how players interacted and if there were any imbalances in gameplay, but I wasn't an active gameplayer. Since selling it, I haven't ever played it. I've checked out the website occasionally just to see how things are going, but actually hadn't done that in a few years now either. This interview led me to do a deeper dive into the game today and it's pretty neat to see how it's evolved with Discord chats, an android app, etc but also how much of the original core game has survived! But I haven't tried playing it as of yet.

2. Are you still in touch with Blake? I think Blake deleted my provinces more than once.

Absolutely - he was one of my close friends when he joined Swirve and still remains so. I'm in contact with him regularly and see him a few times a year. If you'd ever like to interview him, I can reach out and see if he has any interest!

3. Are you interested in ever making a new online game?

I've had lots of ideas and think I still understand game design and mechanics really well. But I don't really play computer games these days, so I don't have a good sense of the industry, and my programming skills are still late 1990s, early 2000's level, so there'd be no way to develop a game in today's world the way I'd want to. One of the things I enjoyed in creating Utopia is that I could create it entirely in my head and then turn into code, do the (very limited) graphic design, and every other part of the website and business myself (before we grew and added Blake). Earth:2025 went from "I should try to make a webgame" to release in something like 6 weeks. Utopia was a bit longer, but conceptually similar. That kind of pace and environment is what I thrive in. Today's games seem to require entire teams of developers and designers and so many things to coordinate and the timeline to develop seems to be measured in years. None of that is really appealing to me, unfortunately.

4. You manage escape rooms in Austin. How do you develop those, how has Covid affected the industry, and how has your online game development affected your perspective in developing escape room scenarios?

Some friends and I launched an escape room around 2016 and it's one of the most fun projects I've been involved in. I love creating unique and interesting forms of entertainment. Swirve existed in a time when the internet wasn't really social - it was used for information and there were occasional message boards and such, but there was no social media, no real interaction between people of different backgrounds or cultures or things like that. So that's what I really focused on - Earth was interactive, but in a limited way. Utopia was kind of the fulfillment of that vision of bringing people together in a totally new way.

Escape Rooms exist in kind of the opposite world. Now everyone interacts on screens and phones, and every corner of the world is accessible to everyone. But in the process, we lost some of the human-to-human interactions. So the escape room was an opportunity to bring my strength in game design to a different world - taking out the screens and the tech and getting people laughing and struggling together face-to-face. Every aspect of it was fun - watching people play and seeing the joy they got, designing the games to create unique and quirky themes and puzzles, etc. For me, it was an opportunity to take my understanding of "what's fun" from the online gaming world and try to turn that into a real-life scenario. A lot of the outputs are very different, but the core ideas of what makes something interesting and addictive and gets people excited are very similar underneath. We had an amazing team of owners and employees that made the whole thing a blast and really successful.

Unfortunately, Covid hit in the middle of it all, and putting people in a room with strangers and having them touch things that other random people had touched all day long was basically the single least Covid-friendly activity you could come up with. We were built to be a high volume business that was fully booked all the time, and unfortunately, it couldn't survive the pandemic. So we shut it down in 2020 and ended up selling it to a company looking to expand their global presence. But, even post-pandemic, I don't think escape room popularity has returned to where it was prior (for a whole host of reasons relating to how covid changed people's entertainment preferences and spending).

5. Do you see any future in text-based games? Utopia's numbers keep dwindling despite being one of the best games ever made. How can text-based compete with "modern" games?

Its hard to imagine, honestly. If you asked me in 2000 whether the game would be around 25 years later, I'd have laughed. I knew it was something special, but technology ultimately moves forward. Utopia survives because it has such a loyal following and works well enough on a smaller scale with a few thousand people. But if it had never existed and we tried to launch the same game today, no one would give it a chance. So it's incredibly fortituous that it had the right timing and grew enough in its heyday to maintain itself through today. And great ownership by whoever runs it these days to understand what makes it work and keep improving things while not losing that essence. It would be very tempting to try to turn it into something it's not to target a broader audience, and I think that would destroy it pretty quickly, so I'm glad they haven't pursed that.

That said, one area where I think text-based games could play an interesting role is with the massive growth in AI. Having the game be able to interact with players in a human way opens a whole new interesting set of doors of how to design games. For example, you could design a game done entirely through conversations on SMS between players and a virtual game host. I think of things like Dungeons & Dragons campaigns that could be modernized with technology but still be conversation or text focused. I haven't thought through it well enough to have a cohesive game idea, but that's an area where text can still dominate and create some unique value.

6. Utopia has changed so much but has also remained the same over the 25 years I've been playing. Real-life connections have been forged...marriages and friendships. Did you forsee this? (I know you have already been asked this...but it still boggles my mind.) (Combining with 8. What are our or more of your favorite Utopia (or Swirve in general) moments)

Not even for a second. Utopia is now older than I was when I wrote it, which is kind of insane to think about. As I mentioned earlier, doing this interview led me to do a bit of research just to see what the game looks like now and such. Seeing so many things added and new ways to interact with the game is really neat. At the same time, the logo is the original logo from our early years - that, to me, is crazy and really cool to see what's survived.

When I was started it, I was also pretty young and focused more on the game and business development. While I loved how much fun it was for everyone and had a pretty good sense that I was creating something fairly unique, I don't think I had the life experience to really understand the full impact the games would ultimately have. The friendships - I had hoped for that and that was part of the core design. But marriages? My favorite was hearing about a pair from literally opposite sides of the globe - Sweden and the Philippines - ultimately meeting and getting married. The long-term post-game connections people have maintained are amazing. I was just looking at some reddit forums and to see people still talking about how they played the games 20 years ago and that they still have an emotional attachment to those experiences is kind of incredible.

Some of the things I didn't appreciate as much at the time but now still remember decades later are things like teachers sharing how they used Utopia and Earth to connect with students and teach them everything from math to social skills. And parents using the game to bond with their adopted kids and things like that. Creating fun is great, but actually having an impact on lives on a broader scale is a feeling that's hard to match - and not something I went into Utopia thinking would ever be the case. But that idea of helping impact people's lives in some unique way is something that's become an important part of any project I've worked on since and will do in the future.

7. Game changes must be exhausting to conceptualize. There are issues of balance (to fix flaws in the mechanics) and also a kind of intentional chaos (change for the sake of change). How did you navigate this?

This was actually a really fun part of game design for me. With the Ages system and the game restarting every few months, this whole thing was like an laboratory for me. I could just kind of do whatever I wanted and even if it ended up unbalanced, it would take people a month to figure it out and then in another month or two, we'd just start fresh. People took each age and each change way more seriously than I did and would routinely get upset with things before seeing how they played out. But while I got plenty of things wrong, I think I had a reasonably good intuitive sense if something was going to work OK or being way too destablizing or whatnot that nothing went too, too haywire.

9. Everyone asked this, but I feel I know the answer: Would you ever consider purchasing the game if you had the option to do so?

I think from a nostalgia perspective, it would be cool. I've often looked to see if I could buy back the swirve.com domain, but it's now in use by another business. But it would be disservice to the player base today because I'm not remotely qualified at this point to keep developing the game! I think if ownership needed to change again, some combination of active players with game-design and/or programming background would be the ideal. One of my big concerns when I sold the games originally was if the people taking it over really understood exactly what it was that made the games and community so unique and how to cultivate that. I think if I were to try to take over today, I'd be in that same position since I've been away so long.

10. You have supported various causes, such as Restoration Collective (If I am correct.) In any case, what organizations or causes would you like to mention?

I work with a variety of causes, but my connections to them tend to be personal. I know their leadership or am involved with the organizations in various ways. To me, it's a far more meaningful and interesting version of charity because you get to see a more direct impact of your resources than you would contributing to a larger organization (though maybe less efficent due to lack of scale). Rather than picking organizations or causes and simply donating money, I would recommend people find things important to them and try to get involved in some way, even if it's only a small one, in some of the smaller and more local organizations doing work in those areas. I think it's more rewarding and builds a stronger connection between the cause and the contributors.

#utopia #mehul #utopia-game

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gargrizzled · 6 months

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⭐️ idk if you’re still doing this

Hi, thank you for this! I honestly consider myself open to any ask games I reblog anytime, so you're good!

I've been considering what section to choose because there's a lot I could talk about, but since Chapter 4 is one of my personal favorites I'd like to go more in depth with that!

!Spoilers for Chapter 4 of Blood Brothers!

The chapter title, It's the Nighttime That Flatters, are lyrics from the song Self Control by Laura Branigan.

Songs are the theme of the chapter titles in BB, either because they fit at least somewhat lyrically or to set the vibe I'm going for. This fits in both categories! I find it has a chill party vibe, which pairs with the purpose of the chapter: Gangrel introducing E&C to the nightlife to escape the stress they're under. A lot of the lyrics fit as well, including but not limited to:

You take my self, you take my self control

I, I live among the creatures of the night

I know the night is not as it would seem

Which leads us to the underlying mysteries of the chapter. One of the first things Christian notices as they enter The Empire is this:

(Side note: Christian's disturbed reaction gains later importance in Chapter 5!)

Weird that these are there right? Perhaps they're leftovers from the time the club was actually an apartment complex, as Gangrel had explained to the brothers. Or maybe - they're hints to a more sinister truth that E&C are none the wiser to yet.

The Empire has a bar, club, stage - and also a bunch of apartments that seem open for just about anyone to fulfill whatever sinful whims they have. Edge uses this to his advantage when he seeks out a quick hook up to indulge his sleazy, Rated R side. This takes a strange turn when the woman abruptly leaves, seemingly startled by something that happened in the room, and Edge feeling oddly drained. Even more questions go unanswered when he returns to Gangrel, who seems angry at something he sees on Edge's neck.

Stark chill in the room? Objects suddenly moving? Symptoms of anemia with a mark on your neck? 🤔

And it sure is a shame the moment pieces of this puzzle could've fallen into place comes when E&C will be too drunk to remember:

You know... without a little paranormal intervention... do you think Edge's one night stand could've ended with him getting to know the ghosts of the Empire in a closer way than anyone would want? Did that mysterious woman see something from the past she did not expect??

And what did Gangrel do to correct her mistake?

Other small tidbits to end on a lighter note!

The neon signs have a reference to the Quentin Tarantino vampire film of course, and a vampiric twist on the fun "Don't do coke in the bathroom"

The name of the club is based on a picture of the Brood in a section of a WWF magazine, "A Goth Night on the Town", where "Empire" is seen cut-off on a neon sign behind them.

Helen the bartender is an original character made on the fly, and may not so subtly be from the 1920s - 40s based on her mid-atlantic accent and slang such as "juice" and "bushwa". It also seems she's close friends with Gangrel. Maybe they go back?

#fic: Blood Brothers #VS BS

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clancy2001 · 6 months

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Week 14 Thoughts

The semester is done! At the end of not just this semester but my degree as a whole! I was so glad I got to take part in this class, playing games has always been a passion of mine and to learn some of steps in game development as part of my degree has been so interesting and lead me to want to develop games in my spare time.

Working on the playtesting report has been great, as I've been fortunate to have three great group members in Umang, Samantha and Hannah who have all contributed to the final result. They each brought different skills and ideas to the table which made development fun.

Having my sister and her boyfriend playtest my game was very cool as my sister has completed a bachelor of games herself while her partner likes to play games in his spare time as well. It was very satisfying to finally finish our prototype and get testing with a cool progression of levels starting in a grass level then sand level then two spooky levels to finish. Halloween was the overall theme of our game as the player controls a pumpkin person who has escaped an evil witch and must reach the end while collecting as many points as possible.

It was fun developing a platformer as platformers would be my favourite genre of games so to see the inner workings of what makes them tick per say has been fascinating. With any project like this there are things to reflect and look back on with obvious things like "I wish I started sooner!" or "I wish I wasn't working on this at 11pm at night" with any university student. However, in terms of reflecting on the game itself I think making more levels would've been fun and perhaps fleshing out the existing levels as they are at the moment just about one screen each. Perhaps having secret rooms unlocked with the invisible platforms leading to them would've been cool. More enemies or rather enemies specifically themed to each level would've been good too but the functionality and difference between our enemies was good. Except I would've liked if the small blob actually did something rather than sit still and would've been better for our players but we had an idea of it being hard to spot that you must be careful for but perhaps was not the right execution of that idea.

I've grown to appreciate playtesting as an important step of the development lifecycle as I always perceived playtesting as this final piece of the puzzle akin to beta testing simply to find bugs. However, if done correctly and involving the right people it can extend to being part of this iterative design process where new ideas come up watching the game be played or from player feedback.

Again I'm very glad I did this class as an elective and want to thank the teaching team for a great first experience with game development as while I had done IGB180 last semester as an elective that was more analysis than development. I certainly want to work on making my own games as a hobby and maybe one day I'll return to university and complete a Bachelor of Games.

#igb220

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grannycharles · 11 months

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Hi, so ive seen you post about this minceraft roleplay thingy (?) (I actually have no idea if it is soley that there was some talk about acting being good in the last video and it confused me even more) and was wondering what the hell is the plot? Like what is it about? Ive skimmed some posts and they are always very wild and now the curiosity got the better of me. Also I think it ended? At least some posts sounded like it did ^^;

So take this as your free pass to rant about it and tell someone who has no idea what the whole thing is about :3

I hope you are having a wonderful day!

oooooooooh hehehehehehe you are enabling the demons >:)

i assume you mean generation loss, because that's basically been all i've been reblogging the last few days.

it is not minecraft roleplay (but i can see where the confusion is coming from bc the creator, ranboo was first known for his mcrp on the dream smp)

generation loss is a livestreamed horror series created by twitch streamer ranboo "ranboolive" the beloved. they're really cool, funny as fuck and stream a lot of different indie horror and story games! (and minecraft, when it's time for him to lose another mincraft championship lmao. L)

anyway, the first part of genloss aired in three shows last week: on wednesday, friday and sunday. really messed up my sleep schedule due to time zones, but oh god it was worth it. of course the vods would've waited for me, but there was ✨audience participation✨ during the streams and i was not going to miss that. and also ranboo had been talking about this project and hyping it up for almost 2 years. so yeah.

and holy shit they delivered. tbf i was really perplexed when it started out all sillygoofy, but the slow descent into horror, the realization of what was truly going on, hit like a ton of bricks. that tone shift was pulled off So well omg.

the plot / premise / whatever is as follows: (fictional) media corporation showfall media is premiering a new type of liveshow with audience participation! there is a Hero, who the audience has to guide through different rooms and puzzles that pay hommage to old point-and-click escape room games and the saw movies among other things. and it is hilarious! however, something seems to be wrong with the transmission, it glitches out at times and the characters act strange. the fourth wall seems more fragile with each passing minute of the show.

ranboo and their crew made a really cool meta commentary on what it is like to be a "content creator" (god i hate that word sm). if you share your life online, where exatly is the line between "show" and "reality"? are your decisions really your own? what happens to you when the show ends?

he got quite a few of his fellow streamers and friends to star on the show, and even though i'm only tangentially familiar w most of them, the points genloss was making came across. everything that "ruined the immersion" was very much intentional. like, ranboo was 16/17ish when they started on yt and twitch, and they're 19 now. that is BONKERS to me. i'm so fucking proud of this guy, he made a really cool, impactful thing and i hope there'll be more of this series.

okay i rambled a Lot. hopefully that clears up some stuff! if you want to watch the show, the vods of all three shows are available on twitch.tv/ranboolive and also on yt on the ranboovods channel. it's about 6 hours total :D triggerwarnings include gore, unreality, probably some more i cant remember right now, just a lot of psychological horror fuckery.

and if you want me to ramble more, feel free to poke me again! because god do i have Thoughts tm about genloss. and yeah the entirety of episode 3 left me shook and rewatching the beginning with the knowledge you gain makes it so much worse :) in conclusion i am Very Normal about this thanks for enabling me

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grenadineghost · 2 years

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JUNE those games are the zero escape and ai:the somnium files series!! i've been kind of obsessed with them for the past several months LOL they're very good. the one featured most there is the first game in the ZE series, 9 hours 9 persons 9 doors (999)!! it's VERY good i highly recommend it (as well as ai: the somnium files)!!! 999 is on steam bundled with the second ZE game for $30, but you can definitely find it and emulate it. (the DS version actually does some really interesting things with the split screen, really takes advantage of the medium.) the voice acting in the port is really good though, i really like it! the ZE games are a combination of visual novel and escape room puzzle elements! it's very fun but also gets a little dark? it's not super graphic but there is some blood and death and etc. also it's definitely best to go into the games blind! there's some bonkers twists in there. truly an Experience of a game. i've been a little vague about it because of that but i can answer any questions if you have them LOL <3

IM SO SORRY I NEVER RESPONDED TO THIS HOLY SHIT dglfhjs i feel so bad this was what months ago

ANYWAYS holy shit that sounds so fun!!! i know like. absolutely nothing about the games so those twists will be able to Get Me..... my computers trying to die so i might have to wait to get a new computer to try them out but like. that sounds so fun hdlkjg ive been wanting to get more into story-based games and just :3 ty for the rec omg

#asks #airshipvalentine #hahahahahaha no im not responding to this months after the fact....#genuinely so sorry hjk

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the-fandom-abyss · 3 years

Text

Little Notes

River Song x Fem!Reader

Genre: Fluff ♡

Word Count: 780 words

When the notes first began, you panicked, worried that someone had violated the safety of your home. It put you on edge, urging you to check your house for clues or broken hinges. It wasn't until you noticed a common theme with the notes that your paranoia calmed. The notes smelt of perfume, the subtle smell of vanilla filled the room. A signature smell of a woman of great stature, a woman that you had the pleasure of calling yours. Each note tailored to you, crafted to the fun, sweet and flirty relationship you hold with her. Each note signified a day that she was gone, a day that she was unable to come home to you.

Using her time travel abilities to appear the day she left, never felt right to her. Even though she never wants to miss a day with you, she does enjoy the yearning and happiness she comes home to. Without fail, a new sun would rise and a new note would appear.

Good morning darling 💋

A note that adorned a perfect kiss in a signature red shade. A kiss you wish could be placed on your lips, red colour smeared on both lips.

Breakfast is on me

The island bench was draped with food of all sorts. From waffles to chocolate covered strawberries, to bacon and eggs, to toast in the shape of a heart. It was clear that River went above and beyond to deliver this feast. If only she was here to enjoy this moment with you, take pleasure in feeding you the strawberries.

You got this, my love

She must have peaked into your date book, noticing the drastic circle around this date. The meeting that could make or break your career, enough to rattle your nerves. To know that River believed in you and in her own way, is here with you, meant everything. With her by your side, you can achieve anything.

You'd look much better under me

A cheeky note placed at the top of your mirror, demanding for your attention. You couldn't stop your mind from wandering, blood rushing to your cheeks, offering a pink hue. Now she was playing with you, trying her best to drive you insane.

I'm missing the taste of you

This not so subtle note was hidden inside your cutlery drawer. A masterful way to hide a pun while also spicing up your dinner. Even though it was intended to be sexual, a chuckle escaped your lips. You could imagine the cheeky smirk River would be wearing as she wrote those words. She loved getting a reaction from you, it had become a game that both of you loved playing.

I'd much prefer to ride you, sweetie

Attached to this note was a picture of River. She wore her archeologist uniform while aboard the TARDIS. She knew how you loved a woman in uniform. You held the picture up in front of you, hoping that if you looked long enough, she would magically appear. Softly shaking your head, you lowered your arm, only to receive a shock. There in front of you was River, living, breathing and most importantly in the flesh River. Only this time she wore a bright smile, dressed in her Sunday best. She took your breath away, you have never been more excited. You sprinted towards her, leaping into her arms. She was prepared though, ready to catch you like she knew how this would go. Your arms squeezed her tight, the true test to see if she was real. River chuckled as you snuggled your way into the crook of her neck. Oh how she missed the way you perfectly fit into her arms, like the last piece of a puzzle.

She was surprised to hear quiet sobs from the one in her arms. Instinctively she wrapped her arms around you tighter, pressing a soft kiss to your head.

"What's the matter, dear?" Her words were quiet, whispered into your ear. She refused to let go to have this conversation.

"I've missed you so much" you lips tickled her neck as you spoke but River didn't mind. Her heart melted at your words, knowing just how it feels. She mentally vowed that this time, she won't leave. Unless the universe was in grave danger but she predicted that was a few months away. She wriggled you off her body, gently placing you safely on the floor.

"Let's go make up for missed time, shall we?" She offered her hand which you happily accepted. Your hands intertwining while she pulled you towards the bedroom. It was as if the planets aligned and there was finally peace on earth.

#river song #doctor who #river song imagine #doctor who imagine #dw #dw imagine

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