MouseAdventure - Page 15

NirvanaMan · 11-06-2006, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Yeah, that's what I meant? Whoever was looking at the original drawings
(unless - sorry to say - really ditzed out) had to know it was packing crates and luggage and trunks. They had shipping labels all over them, by golly. They were perfect line drawings of suitcases, crates and trunks (oh, and one flower pot, huh?)

Well, that would be the entire team. A team that did finish the game btw.

But in all seriousness, no, no one saw it. And I would hardly say it was clear. What you call "shipping labels" you have to realize were rectangles with other rectangles inside of them. Hardly definitive. Then there were the things that looked like wastebaskets with trash in them...oh and those things that looked like envelopes. One of which, had an extra circle in it. Yes..clear as day.

Who the **** packs a flower pot anyway?

Alex · 11-06-2006, 09:46 PM

You all played the version of that Adrienne was responsible for so I don't want speak as the official voice or anything.

That said, some comments.

Surprisingly, I agree with Steve at a personal level. If I were a player (and I've remarked on the irony before that I have never actually played MouseAdventure, its predecessor, or any of the similar events) I don't think I would care for the Enchanted Race format. I think my contributions would lie in multitasking well and overall strategy. So, I would likely be iffy on the game no matter how well done.

That said, it is the fundamental nature of a road rally type event that tasks come at you one at a time and you don't advance until you've completed it. That's why we originally came up with the Mad Scramble format. It perverts the pure time/race nature and allows for more multitasking (combining single tasks that must be completed before moving on but also having quite a few "event wide" events).

Where might you have placed MouseAdventure Central such that the problem described wouldn't have happened. If it had been inside Disneyland, then teams in DCA (where about half the game took place) would have resisted using it even more.

Lisa and Chris, so far as I know the umbrellas were in place until 4:00 p.m. Is it possible you just didn't see them?

I don't remember who came up with the idea of compasses but the way in which they were used was completely my idea, so I get the blame for that. That said, the first use of the compass was intended to be relatively easy to give you a chance to figure out the use before getting to the complex stuff later. Also, by orienting Main Street, it allows you to orient and align the two park maps which means you could sit at a table and approximately locate each spot before moving. Sorry you didn't like it, Steve, and I did have my worries after the map orienting puzzle last fall.

I hold no illusions that every idea we have will be gold, but let me tell you that after 13 of these things sometimes I'm just happy that we can still come up with ideas at all. Particularly for something like the Invitational where we know that all of the teams will be well familiar with our standard elements, unlike in this open where half of the teams qualified as new.

Alex · 11-06-2006, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NirvanaMan

Who the **** packs a flower pot anyway?

Hat box.

NirvanaMan · 11-06-2006, 09:51 PM

Eh, I liked the compass task. While it did not necessarily give you an exact location, it got you close enough where you would then have to hunt a bit. I thought it was fresh, clever and rather fun.

innerSpaceman · 11-06-2006, 10:07 PM

Oh, and I, too, appreciate the effort - often successful - to come up with fresh ideas after all this time.

I would prefer that iffy ones (if the staff does consider them iffy) be saved for the classic format, where it's not all or nothing.

And yes, I realize that the Esplanade was the only central point between two parks ... which, to my way of thinking, made it pretty much useless for both of them. Rather, I think there should have been some staffed location in each park. Having to take a big time penalty is bad enough without having to go so far (and back) for the privilege.

Sorry to nik pit. I know (believe me I know) it's not easy to come up with these games, and to keep them fresh year after year after year.

But, as with Alex, my skills lie in strategy and multitasking. No more Mad Scramble for me. Just not my cup of tea.

(And I hate to think how much I would have hated the compasses if I wasn't constantly tickled that €uro actually brought his own in a prescient bit of flukery.)

Not Afraid · 11-06-2006, 10:14 PM

I have no complaints about the locker quest, but we (by we, I mean Brad) got it right away. It was an absolute breeze and a real high. But, I can completely see thinking it was a 2d diagram of an arial layout.

The compass thing was just no fun for us. We couldn't get good readings no matter what method we tried (and we had another compass to work with). That may have just been operator error, but we wern't even CLOSE with the phone location and we scrambled through quite a few "possible" stores for the Walt pictures before giving up and just dialing random possibilities. (Apologies to the people who answered at the wrong number.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ALEX

Lisa and Chris, so far as I know the umbrellas were in place until 4:00 p.m. Is it possible you just didn't see them?

Of course that's a possibility. One umbrella was spotted but the word "bloom" completely mislead us. Maybe there is a connection between the word "bloom" and the word "umbrella" that I'm just not getting, but it completely stumped us.

I still love the game, though. But, somehow, we just seem to keep getting worse at it rather than better. What's up with that?

Alex · 11-06-2006, 10:16 PM

Because of the Invitiational, though, some sad young Boy Scout went to one of several Orange County Wal-Marts last week in search of a cheap (but reasonably accurate) compass only to go away empty handed.

The humanitarian toll of MouseAdventure is phenomenal.

By the way, I just looked and saw that the high yesterday was 90 degrees. Just a couple days earlier the forecast was 80 degrees. The power of MouseAdventure to make the sun hotter is awe-inspiring. Someday I'm going to schedule the game so that we make the sun go dark in the middle of it and all the savages (players) will tremble before us.

innerSpaceman · 11-06-2006, 10:19 PM

And here I was thinking it was Global Warming. Silly me.

Oh, and no kidding ... my teammate cannot wear a wristwatch because of her wacky magnetic field. Watches freak out within moments of being in range of her. I would not be at all surprised if more than human error was at work in our compass disaster (human freakery being the other component).

And, hahaha, we started dialing random phone numbers, too. I hope we didnt' bother any of the same people!

NirvanaMan · 11-06-2006, 10:21 PM

Today was much hotter, so let's be thankful it wasn't today.

Not Afraid · 11-06-2006, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

(And I hate to think how much I would have hated the compasses if I wasn't constantly tickled that €uro actually brought his own in a prescient bit of flukery.)

Of course, had we not tanked, we would probably have be disqualified for using outside material.

11-06-2006, 09:46 PM	#142
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	You all played the version of that Adrienne was responsible for so I don't want speak as the official voice or anything. That said, some comments. Surprisingly, I agree with Steve at a personal level. If I were a player (and I've remarked on the irony before that I have never actually played MouseAdventure, its predecessor, or any of the similar events) I don't think I would care for the Enchanted Race format. I think my contributions would lie in multitasking well and overall strategy. So, I would likely be iffy on the game no matter how well done. That said, it is the fundamental nature of a road rally type event that tasks come at you one at a time and you don't advance until you've completed it. That's why we originally came up with the Mad Scramble format. It perverts the pure time/race nature and allows for more multitasking (combining single tasks that must be completed before moving on but also having quite a few "event wide" events). Where might you have placed MouseAdventure Central such that the problem described wouldn't have happened. If it had been inside Disneyland, then teams in DCA (where about half the game took place) would have resisted using it even more. Lisa and Chris, so far as I know the umbrellas were in place until 4:00 p.m. Is it possible you just didn't see them? I don't remember who came up with the idea of compasses but the way in which they were used was completely my idea, so I get the blame for that. That said, the first use of the compass was intended to be relatively easy to give you a chance to figure out the use before getting to the complex stuff later. Also, by orienting Main Street, it allows you to orient and align the two park maps which means you could sit at a table and approximately locate each spot before moving. Sorry you didn't like it, Steve, and I did have my worries after the map orienting puzzle last fall. I hold no illusions that every idea we have will be gold, but let me tell you that after 13 of these things sometimes I'm just happy that we can still come up with ideas at all. Particularly for something like the Invitational where we know that all of the teams will be well familiar with our standard elements, unlike in this open where half of the teams qualified as new.
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11-06-2006, 09:51 PM	#144
NirvanaMan Making Change Happen Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 990	Eh, I liked the compass task. While it did not necessarily give you an exact location, it got you close enough where you would then have to hunt a bit. I thought it was fresh, clever and rather fun.
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11-06-2006, 10:07 PM	#145
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	Oh, and I, too, appreciate the effort - often successful - to come up with fresh ideas after all this time. I would prefer that iffy ones (if the staff does consider them iffy) be saved for the classic format, where it's not all or nothing. And yes, I realize that the Esplanade was the only central point between two parks ... which, to my way of thinking, made it pretty much useless for both of them. Rather, I think there should have been some staffed location in each park. Having to take a big time penalty is bad enough without having to go so far (and back) for the privilege. Sorry to nik pit. I know (believe me I know) it's not easy to come up with these games, and to keep them fresh year after year after year. But, as with Alex, my skills lie in strategy and multitasking. No more Mad Scramble for me. Just not my cup of tea. (And I hate to think how much I would have hated the compasses if I wasn't constantly tickled that €uro actually brought his own in a prescient bit of flukery.)
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11-06-2006, 10:16 PM	#147
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	Because of the Invitiational, though, some sad young Boy Scout went to one of several Orange County Wal-Marts last week in search of a cheap (but reasonably accurate) compass only to go away empty handed. The humanitarian toll of MouseAdventure is phenomenal. By the way, I just looked and saw that the high yesterday was 90 degrees. Just a couple days earlier the forecast was 80 degrees. The power of MouseAdventure to make the sun hotter is awe-inspiring. Someday I'm going to schedule the game so that we make the sun go dark in the middle of it and all the savages (players) will tremble before us.
	Submit to Quotes

11-06-2006, 10:19 PM	#148
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	And here I was thinking it was Global Warming. Silly me. Oh, and no kidding ... my teammate cannot wear a wristwatch because of her wacky magnetic field. Watches freak out within moments of being in range of her. I would not be at all surprised if more than human error was at work in our compass disaster (human freakery being the other component). And, hahaha, we started dialing random phone numbers, too. I hope we didnt' bother any of the same people!
	Submit to Quotes

11-06-2006, 10:21 PM	#149
NirvanaMan Making Change Happen Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 990	Today was much hotter, so let's be thankful it wasn't today.
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